19-Year-Old Man Sentenced to 18 Years for Series of Armed Robberies on CTA Trains

A 19-year-old man, Jeremiah Burns, has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for carrying out a series of armed robberies aboard CTA trains last year. Burns pleaded guilty to two counts of robbery and received concurrent 18-year sentences from Judge William Gamboney. He also received a consecutive four-year sentence for criminal damage to government property related to a fire he allegedly set while in custody.

According to officials, Burns, along with two 17-year-old boys, “terrorized” the Blue Line for over a week in March 2025. The crime spree began on March 12 when Burns, who was on parole for a prior robbery, robbed a 28-year-old woman of her phone on a Blue Line train at Kedzie. His accomplices beat the woman during the robbery.

The following day, Burns allegedly robbed a 38-year-old man of his wallet near the Western station and took a phone from a 25-year-old man on the same train. Surveillance video later helped detectives identify Burns in these robberies.

On March 20, Burns and the juveniles robbed two Whitney Young Magnet High School students on a Blue Line train near Racine. One of the teens was armed with a gun during the robbery. The group took wallets, an AirPods case, and a phone from the students.

After the robberies, Burns and the juveniles used one of the stolen phones to order an Uber to Burns’ residence on West Grenshaw Street. When the Uber driver arrived, the group violently carjacked him, beating him with handguns and stealing his Honda Pilot.

In addition to the CTA robberies and carjacking, Burns also pleaded guilty to mob action in connection with a robbery in Cicero. He received a two-year concurrent sentence for this charge. With credit for time served, Burns is scheduled for release on March 10, 2037.