Chicago man 2nd sentenced in 2017 Wheaton carjacking

A second Chicago man pleaded guilty to a 2017 carjacking in west suburban Wheaton and was sentenced to 20 years in prison, nearly a year after his accomplice was sentenced to 21 years for the same incident.

Phillip Smith, 28, pleaded guilty to one county of aggravated vehicular hijacking Wednesday, while Carlos Moore, 28, pleaded guilty to a count of aggravated robbery with a firearm in May 2017, the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office said. Moore was sentenced to 21 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Smith, Moore and a third person followed a Wheaton couple home about 10:10 p.m. February 22, 2017, prosecutors said. After the couple arrived to their garage, the trio got out of their own vehicle wearing masks and demanded the couple’s vehicle at gunpoint.

Smith, Moore and the third person led officers on a high-speed chase into Chicago but made good on their escape, eventually ditching the vehicle in a parking lot, prosecutors said. Wheaton police were eventually able to track down Moore and Smith, though the third robber is still at large.

Both Smith and Moore will have to serve at least half of their sentence before being eligible for parole, prosecutors said.