A Chicago man has been sentenced to 18 years in federal prison after being convicted of carjacking and firearm offenses. The sentencing follows an incident on May 20, 2021, when Kiar Evans carried out a carjacking and attempted another within minutes on the city’s West Side.
According to federal authorities, Evans first approached a Chevrolet Impala near Independence Boulevard and Congress Parkway. He fired shots through a window while trying to enter the vehicle, but the driver managed to escape. Shortly after, Evans confronted the driver of a Nissan Altima, pointed a gun at him, and demanded he exit the vehicle. The victim complied, and Evans drove away in the stolen Nissan.
Evans was involved in a multi-vehicle crash at Harrison Street and Ogden Avenue soon after fleeing with the Nissan. Chicago Police officers arrested him at the scene and found a loaded semi-automatic handgun in his possession. As Evans had previously been convicted of a felony, he was not legally allowed to possess the firearm.
Evans, who is 26 years old, has been held in federal custody since his arrest. Last year, a jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago found him guilty on all four counts: carjacking, attempted carjacking, brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence, and illegal possession of a firearm by a felon.
U.S. District Judge Martha M. Pacold handed down the sentence during a hearing on July 18, 2025.
The sentencing announcement came from Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office; and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.
“Defendant wielded a gun that had been rendered fully automatic throughout his spree of violence and did not hesitate to use that gun to intimidate his victims and force his will upon them,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paige A. Nutini and Jimmy L. Arce argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “His selfish actions exhibited a total disregard for the safety and well-being of others; and by sheer luck, none of defendant’s victims was seriously injured. Defendant’s conduct is a very serious crime, and the public needs to understand that these crimes justify a substantial sentence.”
