(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Federal prosecutors have offered updates on two Chicago carjacking cases in which defendants will serve long prison sentences or face that prospect.
A 21-year-old Chicago man was sentenced Monday to more than 12 years for stealing a vehicle at gunpoint in May 2020 and striking and injuring a bicyclist while fleeing police, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois said in a news release.
Elias Quinones-Figueroa pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of carjacking and one count of brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, prosecutors said.
Quinones-Figueroa forcibly took a Chevrolet Tahoe SUV from a person who was cleaning the car in Noble Square, authorities said. In an attempt to elude police, he allegedly drove through multiple stop signs and a red light before hitting a bicyclist and crashing into a parked car in West Town.
Quinones-Figueroa was ordered to pay $5,000 in compensation to the injured bicyclist and $1,000 to the victim of the carjacking, prosecutors said.
Meanwhile, the government also announced that an 18-year-old Chicago man has been indicted on carjacking and firearm charges for allegedly hijacking a rideshare driver's vehicle on April 9, 2022.
Noah Ransom allegedly stole a Lexus RX350 at gunpoint from a Lyft driver who picked up him and four other men at a downtown hotel. About 90 minutes later, state police identified the vehicle and ordered it to stop, but the car fled until it was stopped in the West Loop, documents filed in court say.
Ransom and the others reportedly were taken into custody, and authorities recovered a handgun.
The carjacking count against Ransom could yield up to 15 years in federal prison, if he is convicted. The firearm count carries a minimum prison term of seven years, and it would have to be served consecutively, officials said.
Ransom was expected to appear at a hearing in federal court Tuesday afternoon, prosecutors said.
