A federal judge handed a sentence of more than three years in prison Thursday to a man who helped set a CTA van on fire during the rioting downtown in May 2020 — and who has already served nearly that entire sentence.
Darion Lindsey, 22, pleaded guilty in February to arson conspiracy and civil disorder, admitting he helped set the unoccupied van on fire on State Street on May 30, 2020. Denzal Stewart and Lamar Taylor also previously admitted helping set fire to the van.
Stewart was sentenced in 2022 to three years and nine months in prison and is set to be released in July. Taylor got 26 months and left custody in March 2023.
Though questions about Lindsey’s mental health delayed his case, his defense attorney told U.S. District Judge John Blakey that Lindsey has already served 37 months in federal custody and eight months in the hands of local authorities.
Blakey on Thursday handed Lindsey a 38-month prison sentence, telling Lindsey he likely has a “very short” period left to serve. He will get credit for the time he already spent in federal custody, the judge said.
Prosecutors stressed that Lindsey not only helped set the van on fire at a dangerous moment — when protests over the police murder of George Floyd had given way to rioting in Chicago — but he also threw a bottle and lit fireworks at firefighters working to put the fire out.
“Lindsey’s actions put scores of people at risk, including police officers, firefighters, protesters and bystanders,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Albert Berry III wrote in a court memo. “He interfered with law enforcement officers trying to protect the public at a time when their services were critical.”
Before he learned his sentence, Lindsey apologized to Blakey and told him that he’d previously “looked at law enforcement different” than he does today.
“I learned about the respect that should be given to law enforcement,” he said.
