FBI Chicago
Special Agent Siobhan Johnson
(312) 829-1199
October 23, 2015

Alleged Kidnapper Facing Multiple Federal Charges

An indictment returned yesterday in federal court in Chicago charged a Lansing, Illinois man with attempted murder, kidnapping, using fire to commit attempted murder and kidnapping, carjacking, bank robbery, and other charges for his alleged role in the kidnapping of a woman from her home last month in Lansing, Illinois, announced Michael J. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

Previous court filings alleged that Carleous Clay, 33, abducted the victim from her home on the night of September 17, forced her into the trunk of her car and drove her to Indiana, where he used her ATM card at multiple banks, sexually assaulted her, strangled her, and set her on fire. The victim was recovered in Burns Harbor, Indiana in the early morning hours of September 18, according to those filings. Clay was taken into custody two days later in Holland, Michigan, following an intense manhunt carried out by law enforcement across three states.

Yesterday’s superseding indictment charged Clay with a total of nine counts that carry maximum sentences up to life in prison, as well as a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years. The defendant previously pleaded not guilty to charges contained in the initial indictment returned on October 15. An arraignment on the superseding charges is set for November 5, 2015, at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan. The defendant remains in federal custody without bond.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

The government is being represented by Assistant United States Attorney Angel Krull.