Federal Grand Jury Indicts 4 Teenagers in Connection with Violent Carjacking in Chicago

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has indicted four teenagers on carjacking or weapons offenses in connection with the theft of a vehicle at gunpoint in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood.

JAMAR JARVIS, 18, RAYNELL LANFORD, 19, and JAMAAL ASHSAHEED, 19, all of Chicago, forcibly took a Lexus sport-utility vehicle from a victim early in the morning of Oct. 18, 2018, according to an indictment returned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The fourth defendant, JAVION BUSH, 19, of Chicago, provided assistance to the others after the carjacking, the indictment states.

All four defendants are currently in law enforcement custody.  Arraignments in federal court in Chicago have not yet been scheduled.

The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Eddie Johnson, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office provided valuable assistance.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Albert Berry III and Shy Jackson, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Yvette Loizon and Maureen McCurry.

After taking the Lexus, Jarvis, Lanford and Ashsaheed drove it to a gas station in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago, where they purchased gas and a gas can, the indictment states.  CPD officers later arrested the trio, as well as Bush.

The indictment charges Jarvis, Lanford and Ashsaheed with conspiring to commit carjacking.  The three are also charged with using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.  Bush is charged with being an accessory after-the-fact to the carjacking.

In addition to the Oct. 18, 2018, carjacking, the indictment charges Jarvis, Lanford and Ashsaheed with conspiring to commit an attempted carjacking late the prior evening.  In the attempted carjacking, Lanford allegedly displayed a firearm while unsuccessfully attempting to take an Acura sedan in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.

Using, carrying and brandishing a firearm in connection with a carjacking carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, while carjacking and attempted carjacking are each punishable by up to 15 years, and the conspiracy charge is punishable by up to five years.  The accessory after-the-fact charge is punishable by up to seven and a half years.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  If convicted, the Court must impose reasonable sentences under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.