DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Northern District of Illinois

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, January 30, 2018
John R. Lausch, Jr.
, United States Attorney

Chicago Man Sentenced to Four and a Half Years in Federal Prison for Illegally Buying Guns in Indiana and Bringing Them to Chicago

CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been sentenced to four and a half years in federal prison for illegally buying 17 handguns in Indiana and bringing them across the border to Chicago.

RICKY HATCH, also known as “Rick Hatchet” and “Ricky Hatchet,” purchased the firearms from an unlicensed individual in a parking lot in Bloomington, Ind., on three occasions in February 2015. In the first sale, Hatch recruited a resident of Indianapolis, Ind., to serve as the ostensible buyer. The seller reviewed the Indiana resident’s driver’s license and listed some of her information on a purported “firearms bill of sale” before selling the guns to Hatch in exchange for cash. Although the Indiana resident did not accompany Hatch to the next two transactions, Hatch used aliases in those deals to conceal his identity.

After each purchase, Hatch brought the guns to Chicago. The Chicago Police Department has subsequently recovered five of the guns from individuals other than Hatch.

Hatch, 25, pleaded guilty last year to unlawful interstate transportation of firearms. On Jan. 18, 2018, U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman imposed a 55-month prison sentence.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Celinez Nunez, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Eddie Johnson, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

“The impact of firearms brought from Indiana and sold to individuals in Illinois is well documented,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian S. Wallach argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Defendant’s actions, and those like him who bring gun after gun into this city, are fueling the violence that we read about on a daily basis.”

The government was represented by Mr. Wallach and Assistant U.S. Attorney Katie M. Durick.

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Chicago Field Division