A man with a history of previous arrests has been sentenced to 4½ years in jail for attacking a passenger on the CTA Red Line in Rogers Park last summer.
Judge Carol Howard imposed the term after 26-year-old Martel Mason pleaded guilty to aggravated violence on a transit passenger. Prosecutors agreed to drop the robbery charges.
The case began shortly after midnight on July 19, 2024, when a 22-year-old Evanston man was attacked on a train near the Morse station. The attackers surrounded the 22-year-old Evanston man, assaulted him, pepper-sprayed him, and stole his phone, credit card, and driver’s license. Police later published surveillance images of the suspects.
Prosecutors claim that an officer immediately recognized Mason due to his arrest just ten days prior for a different offense. Detectives eventually located him at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse, where he was appearing in other ongoing cases.
In fact, Mason was already facing three distinct cases at the time of the robbery: a felony retail theft from 2023, a misdemeanor retail theft on the Magnificent Mile from March 2024, and a misdemeanor battery in Rogers Park ten days before the train attack. According to court documents, he has pleaded guilty to the violence and one of the retail thefts. He received time served for them. The third charge was dropped.
Mason’s official sentence is 4½ years, but under Illinois law, he can spend only half if he keeps out of trouble in prison. He also received credit for time spent in jail awaiting trial. His parole date is slated for January 19, 2027.