Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Firearms Trafficker Sentenced to Ten Years in Federal Prison
CHICAGO — A man who illegally trafficked at least five firearms has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison.
In June of 2020 and July of 2021, ROBERTO PRIETO, 34, of Chicago offered firearms for sale via text message to a confidential law enforcement source on at least five different occasions, executing three of those sales. On April 19, 2022, a grand jury in Chicago returned a superseding indictment charging Prieto with three counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. On June 16, 2022, Prieto pleaded guilty to all three counts.
On November 8, 2022, U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber imposed a 120-month prison sentence.
The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Jeffrey L. Matthews, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Megan DeMarco.
Disrupting illegal firearms trafficking is the focus of the Department of Justice’s Chicago Firearms Trafficking Strike Force. As part of the strike force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office collaborates with ATF and other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners in the Northern District of Illinois and across the country to help stem the supply of illegally trafficked firearms and identify patterns, leads, and potential suspects in violent gun crimes.
Holding firearm offenders accountable through federal prosecution is also a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods. In the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Attorney Lausch and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses.