DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

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

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, October 8, 2019
John C. Milhiser
, United States Attorney
Contact: Sharon Paul

Felons Sentenced to Prison for Illegal Possession of Guns in Quad City Area

PEORIA, Ill. B U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid today sentenced three defendants to prison terms for possession of guns as felons. The cases are separate and unrelated, but all involve illegal weapons in the Quad City area.

Jerry Allen Green, 54, of Silvis, Ill., was ordered to serve 28 years (340 months) in prison. On May 22, 2019, Green pleaded guilty to distribution of ice methamphetamine in August and September 2018; possession of two pipe bombs; possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking and felon in possession of a gun. Green was initially charged by criminal complaint and was arrested on Oct. 25, 2018, in Nashville, Tenn.

The charges against Green were investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration; Quad City Bomb Squad; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Moline Police Department; Rock Island Police Department; and the FBI Gang Task Force, and prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Mehochko.

Donovan Cullen Smith, 30, of Sherrard, Ill., was sentenced to seven years in prison. On April 23, 2019, Smith, a convicted felon, pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a .45 pistol that was stolen on March 5, 2018, from a home in Rock lsland, and possession of another gun stolen from a mobile home in rural Milan, Ill., in October 2017.

Agencies that investigated the case include ATF; the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office; Rock Island County Sheriff’s Office; Rock Island Police Department; and the FBI. Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Mehochko represented the government in the prosecution.

Matthew Daquon Waters, 21, of Tennessee, was sentenced to nearly five years (57 months) in prison. On Feb. 19, 2019, Waters pleaded guilty to possession of a gun on April 24, 2018, in Rock Island, Ill.

Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney John K. Mehochko prosecuted the case which was investigated by the Rock Island Police Department and ATF.

On Oct. 4, Chief U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow sentenced another defendant, Elleck Christopher Vesey, 32, of Davenport, Iowa, to six years in prison for possession of a firearm by a felon on Aug. 19, 2018. Vesey pleaded guilty to the charge on April 17, 2019. The Rock Island Police Department and ATF investigated the case which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alyssa Raya.

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Chicago Field Division