CHICAGO — A man who landed on his feet by becoming a CTA train operator shortly after he completed probation for illegally selling handguns in the city has been sentenced to 52 months in prison on a new gun charge and for striking a Chicago cop with a car while trying to evade arrest in the case.
Jevon Standbak, 35, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and aggravated battery of a peace officer in exchange for sentences of 52 months and three years, respectively, from Judge Michael Kane, according to court records. Prosecutors dropped three other felonies he faced, including aggravated fleeing.
Back in Sept. 2013, the Chicago Tribune reported that prosecutors accused him of buying four guns, including a MAC-11 pistol, in Florida and then re-selling them near his Chicago home on South Eggleston Avenue in March 2012.
He faced 17 felony charges in that case, including multiple counts of gunrunning, illegal firearms transfer, and selling firearms without a license. Ultimately, though, he pleaded guilty to one count of selling a firearm without a valid Firearm Owner’s ID card in exchange for 24 months of probation.
After putting that case behind him, Standbak went to work as a CTA train operator, his attorney said in 2019. The agency’s online records listed Standbak as a $28.34-an-hour “extra board” rail operations employee at the time “Extra board” workers fill in when other employees go on vacation or take sick days.
But Standbak’s express run to a better life derailed four years ago when Chicago police pulled 31-year-old Jevon Standbak over for a traffic violation on the 700 block of West 103rd Street in late October 2019.
The officers pulled their squad car in front of Standbak’s vehicle and saw him leaning down, appearing to hide something under the driver’s seat, a CPD spokesperson said at the time.
Standbak put his car in reverse as an officer leaned into his vehicle, striking the cop, prosecutors said. He then sped away, sometimes exceeding 100 mph, as the cops tried to catch up on the expressway, prosecutors said.
He was caught after crashing into a carwash vacuum machine on the 7900 block of South State, according to CPD.
Police said they found a handgun under Stanbak’s driver’s seat. The officer struck by the passenger door experienced shoulder and neck pain but refused medical treatment.
Standbak’s sentence will be reduced by 50% for good behavior and offset by 523 days of credit he earned since being arrested.
