Still more about the U.S. Attorney’s activities from October, 2019, through Spetember, 2020.

Illegal Possession of Firearms Prosecutions

“If you are a felon and thinking about picking up a gun in Chicago, you should expect to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and face the possibility of going to federal prison for a long time,” said U.S. Attorney Lausch.

o    CHAWAN LOWE, of Chicago, was sentenced last month to seven and a half years in federal prison for illegally possessing a loaded semiautomatic handgun in the city’s Auburn Gresham neighborhood.  As a convicted felon, Lowe was prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm.  The case was investigated by ATF and CPD, with assistance from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.

o    In July, convicted felon ANTOINE JACKSON, of Chicago, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for illegally possessing a loaded gun in the city’s Avalon Park neighborhood.  The semiautomatic handgun had a 16-round magazine and was capable of accepting an even larger capacity magazine.  ATF and CPD conducted the probe.

o    In the first federal prosecutions in Chicago under Operation Legend, three individuals were charged in July with illegally possessing guns or ammunition in various parts of the city this summer.  One of the firearms was a machinegun.  ATF and CPD led the investigation.

o    Several individuals were charged with federal firearm offenses for allegedly illegally possessing guns during periods of civil unrest in Chicago this summer.  The federal defendants include ADAM WALTON, of Chicago, who was arrested in June after Chicago Police officers observed him exiting a store through a broken window while in possession of a loaded semiautomatic handgun and a case of .22-caliber long-rifle ammunition; and JAVONTE T. WILLIAMS, of Chicago, who allegedly possessed a loaded gun while looting a store in downtown Chicago in August.

o    A Chicago man who allegedly pointed a loaded semiautomatic handgun at a federal agent in June was charged with a federal firearm offense.  The agent had approached JOSEPH HAMMOND in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood while investigating a report of a man holding a gun and a toddler.  ATF and CPD led the probe.

o    Two roommates were charged in federal court with illegally possessing handguns and trafficking cocaine out of their apartment in Oak Park.  Law enforcement searched the apartment of ISAIAH INGRAM and KEVIN HAGER and discovered five semiautomatic handguns, all of which were loaded.  The case was worked by FBI, CPD, and the Oak Park Police Department.

o    A suburban drug dealer was sentenced in December to 12 years in prison for illegally possessing narcotics and a loaded semiautomatic handgun.  EFREN GUTIERREZ illegally possessed the firearm and narcotics in Burbank in 2017.  The gun was loaded and had a .45-caliber magazine attached to it.  FBI and CPD led the probe.

o    A federal jury in December convicted RAMONE SHAFFERS, of Chicago, of illegally possessing a loaded handgun with an extended magazine in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago.  The jury also found Shaffers guilty of obstructing justice for offering to pay witnesses to lie on his behalf.  ATF and CPD led the investigation.  Shaffers is awaiting sentencing.

o    A convicted felon was sentenced in December to nearly seven years in federal prison for illegally possessing a loaded handgun and 61 rounds of ammunition in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago.  ANTONIO BROWN, of Chicago, was previously convicted in state court of the attempted armed robbery of a nail salon.  He was released from state prison seven months before the illegal gun possession that led to the federal charge.  The probe was led by FBI and CPD.

o    A federal judge in December sentenced a Chicago man to more than 16 years in prison for shooting an ATF agent.  ERNESTO GODINEZ shot the agent in 2018 in the Back of the Yards neighborhood of Chicago.  The agent was wounded in the head but survived.  ATF led the investigation, with assistance CPD, FBI, USMS, HSI, DEA, and ISP.

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More tomorrow.