Man convicted of carjacking, kidnapping 3 drivers in 2021, including 2 women who were raped
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man has been convicted on federal kidnapping, carjacking, and weapons charges, accused of abducting three women in a two-week span in 2021, and sexually assaulting two of them.
A federal jury on Monday convicted 29-year-old Andrew Anania on two counts of kidnapping, one count of carjacking, and one count of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. Before his trial, he also pleaded guilty to another count of kidnapping and another count of carjacking.
Federal prosecutors said, on Feb. 27, 2021, Anania got into a vehicle with a woman, claimed he had a gun, and sexually assaulted her. The woman was able to escape when Anania later stopped the car, and he crashed the vehicle a short time later.
On March 8, 2021, prosecutors said Anania kidnapped an Uber driver in southwest suburban Darien, and forced her at gunpoint to drive to Chicago, where he sexually assaulted her in an alley before running off.
Two days later, Anania and 31-year-old Walter Moran kidnapped a woman who was on her way to work in Cicero, according to prosecutors. Anania pointed a gun at the victim, and then dorve the car to Chicago, where Moran got into a shootout with someone else on the street. Anania and Moran later released that victim and took her car.
Prosecutors said at the time of those crimes, Anania already was awaiting trial on federal gun charges.
Moran pleaded guilty last year to kidnapping and carjacking charges, and he is set to appear for a sentencing hearing on March 18.
Anania's sentencing is set for May 13. Prosecutors said he faces 7 years to life in prison.
Cook County Circuit Court records show Anania had previously faced multiple kidnapping, sexual assault, sexual abuse, and weapons charges in the kidnapping on March 8, 2021, but those charges were dropped when he was indicted in federal court.