Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Galesburg Man Sentenced to Prison for Straw Purchase of Guns
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – A Galesburg, Ill., man, Marvin Louis Davis, 28, has been ordered to serve four years in federal prison after admitting that he lied when he purchased multiple guns from a licensed firearms dealer in Galesburg. On Sept. 27, 2018, Davis pleaded guilty to providing a false address to the firearms dealer in April 2016, when he purchased eight handguns and one long gun. At the time of purchase, Davis, in fact, lived in a public housing complex where firearms are prohibited.
At sentencing, on March 5, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Sara Darrow, the government presented evidence that one of the guns Davis purchased was later recovered at the scene of an armed robbery in Peoria; another was recovered at the scene of a shooting in Peoria. Other firearms were in the possession of a convicted felon.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Galesburg Police Department and the Peoria MEG conducted the criminal investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alyssa Raya and Kevin Knight represented the government in the case prosecution.
Davis has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since Jan. 11, 2019, when Davis’s pretrial release was revoked for violating his bond conditions.
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