Federal Judge Sentences Man to Six Years in Prison for Illegally Possessing Five Loaded Firearms During High-Speed Chase on Chicago Expressway

CHICAGO - A felon has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for illegally possessing five loaded firearms during a high-speed chase on the John F. Kennedy Expressway in Chicago.

On July 30, 2024, TIMOTHY MCDOWELL was a passenger in a stolen car traveling on the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago. As a police helicopter followed overhead, the car increased its speed to more than 100 miles per hour before exiting the highway and speeding through residential streets. After the vehicle parked in a garage, McDowell ran from pursuing officers and attempted to abandon a backpack he was carrying. He was arrested after a brief chase. Inside his backpack were five loaded handguns, one of which had a defaced serial number while another had a large-capacity magazine attached to it. McDowell had previously been convicted of multiple felony offenses and was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.

McDowell, 36, of Chicago, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. On Aug. 20, 2026, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman sentenced McDowell to six years in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations. The Chicago Police Department provided valuable assistance.

"The fact that defendant possessed five firearms is itself serious, but the fact that he possessed them with compatriots in a stolen vehicle that was fleeing from police increases the seriousness here," Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Schied argued in the government's sentencing memorandum. "He was out and up to no good with others, a danger that compounds his possession of dangerous weapons as a multiple convicted felon."