Maurice Lowry made headlines in 2021 for supposedly “busjacking” a CTA bus, then received a one-year gun possession sentence. Now he’s pleaded guilty to robbing a man on the Red Line. But, thanks to the state’s 50% sentence reduction law and credits earned in jail, he won’t have to worry about living in an actual prison this time, either.
In December 2021, prosecutors said Lowry forced a CTA bus driver to take him to an off-route destination at gunpoint. When the driver told him the bus didn’t go where he wanted, he allegedly pulled out a gun and ordered two passengers off near 69th Street and Western Avenue, officials said at the time.
“Today,” Lowry allegedly told the driver at gunpoint, “you are going there.”
The driver began heading toward Lowry’s desired address until he ordered her to stop so he could go into a gas station, prosecutors claimed. Video from the gas station allegedly showed Lowry hiding a gun on the shelves of an attached convenience store.
Prosecutors initially charged Lowry with aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and said they expected to file additional charges. But court records show he was never charged with anything beyond illegal firearm possession. He received a one-year sentence on that charge from Judge James Linn in December 2022.
After that incident, Lowry lay low until May 28, 2024, when he allegedly helped rob a man who fell asleep on a southbound Red Line train. While he slept near 79th Street, Lowry and an unidentified accomplice went through his backpack and took items, prosecutors said. They moved to another part of the train, came back and took more, then returned a third time.
That’s when the victim woke up and confronted both men, officials said. The altercation turned physical, with Lowry allegedly kicking and striking the victim with a hard object. During the scuffle, the victim’s wallet fell to the floor. Prosecutors said Lowry’s accomplice grabbed it and pulled out $60 cash and the man’s credit cards. Lowry remained on the loose for another six months until CPD transit officers arrested him at the State-Lake station, recognizing him as the person wanted in the mugging, according to a police report.
Records show Lowry has now pleaded guilty to one count of robbery in exchange for the three-year sentence from Judge Tyria Walton. He received 564 days of credit for time served, just enough to cover the 547 days he would have served under the state’s 50% standard deduction.
