Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
News Release
Chicago Field Division – Chicago, Illinois
At The Frontline Against Violent Crime
Contact: Special Agent Thomas Ahern (PIO)
(312) 846-7228 (Office)
(312) 735-0675 (Cell)
ATF Chicago Field Division Releases Mid–Year Significant Adjudicated Investigations
CHICAGO — Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Chicago Field Division Special Agent in Charge Andrew Traver released a list of the top investigations undertaken during the first half of fiscal year 2011. The Chicago Field Division encompasses the entire State of Illinois.
Chicago ATF has been very successful in obtaining significant judicial outcomes so far this year for a range of criminal defendants that represent the results of using the full spectrum of ATF’s arsenal of investigative techniques from the basic felon in possession of a firearm case to the very sophisticated RICO conspiracy gang prosecution,
said Traver. Of course, the majority of these outstanding criminal prosecutions were only made possible through the dedicated cooperative efforts of our federal, state and local law enforcement partners, and were only getting started.
The investigations listed below were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s offices in the Northern and Central Judicial Districts of Illinois.
Heroin and Cocain Supply Networks, Street Gang Drug and Gun Sales Targeted in Three Seperate Investigations Resulting in State and Federal Charges Against 55 Defendants
CHICAGO — Fifty–five defendants are facing state or federal charges following separate law enforcement operations that penetrated alleged wholesale cocaine and heroin supply networks, and street gang-related retail sales of drugs and guns on the city’s south and west sides. Nearly 20 firearms, 10 kilograms of heroin and cocaine, more than $800,000 in cash, and three luxury automobiles were seized during the course of the joint local, state, and federal investigations.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2010/pr0930_02.pdf
Rockford Man Sentenced to 28 Months in Federal Prison for Illegally Selling Firearms
ROCKFORD — United States District Judge Philip G. Reinhard sentenced Marcus Anderson, 23, of Rockford, to 28 months in prison, for illegally selling seven firearms to a convicted felon at a storefront operation located on Broadway. Anderson will not be eligible for parole.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/rockford/2010/pr0929_01.pdf
Rockford Man Sentenced to 6 Years in Federal Prison Without Parole for Illegally Selling Firearms
ROCKFORD — United States District Judge Philip G. Reinhard sentenced Derell C. Valentine, 25, of Rockford, to six years in prison for illegally selling nine firearms at a storefront operation located on Broadway in Rockford. There is no parole under federal law.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/rockford/2010/pr1027_01.pdf
Chicago Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Illegal Possession of a Handgun
CHICAGO — A Chicago man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony offense, federal law enforcement officials announced. Jimmy Brown, 26, who last resided in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood in Chicago, received the mandatory minimum sentence for an armed career criminal in federal court.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2011/pr0128_02.pdf
Rockford Man Sentenced to More than 33 Years in Federal Prison for Narcotics and Firearms Offenses
ROCKFORD — United States District Judge Frederick J. Kapala sentenced Randolph Sullivan, 47, of Rockford, to 400 months (33 years and 3 months) in federal prison without parole for possessing with intent to distribute heroin, possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense in Rockford, Ill. Following his release from prison, Sullivan must also serve five years of supervised release, and he was ordered to pay a $300 special assessment.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/rockford/2011/pr0203_01.pdf
Possession of firearm results in 17 1/2-year sentence
By Lee Provost
A 29–year–old Kankakee man was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
http://kankakee-me.zebramm.com/topic/10807-Local%20News%20/articles/205509747
Arrests Target Alleged Crack, Marijuana Networkds Supplying Bloomington–Normal
Operation Prairie Eagle
PEORIA — A Chicago–area man, Eric Michael Cheek, and 15 local residents have been charged by federal criminal complaint in a cooperative investigation known as Operation Prairie Eagle
that targets distribution of crack cocaine and marijuana in the Bloomington–Normal area.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/ilc/press/2011/04April/06Cheek.html
Latin King’s Nationwide Leader, Augustin Zambrano, and Three Other High–Ranking Gang Members Convicted of Rico Conspiracy and Related Crimes in Federal Trial
CHICAGO — A federal jury convicted the highest–ranking leader, nationwide, and three other high–ranking leaders of the Latin Kings street gang of racketeering conspiracy (RICO) including other charges against them involving narcotics trafficking and related violence that plagued numerous neighborhoods on the city’s north, south and west sides.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2011/pr0407_01.pdf
Zajac Sentenced to 35 Years in Federal Prison in Connection with Explosion at Salt Lake Library
SALT LAKE CITY — Thomas James Zajac, age 57, of Downers Grove, Ill., convicted of six violations of federal law stemming from a bombing at the Salt Lake City Public Library on Sept. 15, 2006, will spend 35 years in federal prison.
http://www.justice.gov/usao/ut/press/releases/Zajac%20sentenced%20for%20library%20bombing.pdf
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