Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Indiana Man Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal Prison for Bringing Guns and Ammunition to Chicago Area and Illegally Selling Them
CHICAGO — An Indiana man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for bringing firearms and ammunition across the border into Chicago and illegally selling them.
DARICK HUDSON, 47, of Michigan City, Ind., sold six firearms and ammunition on three occasions in the fall of 2015. The weapons included five handguns and a rifle. Unbeknownst to Hudson, the buyer was cooperating with law enforcement.
Hudson also agreed to sell to the cooperating individual four additional firearms – two shotguns, a rifle and a handgun – but he fled from the transaction location when Chicago Police officers approached his vehicle. Hudson drove into Indiana, where law enforcement officers ultimately stopped his vehicle and apprehended him.
Hudson previously pleaded guilty to illegal possession of a firearm by a felon. On Jan. 10, 2018, U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer imposed a 96-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 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and Eddie Johnson, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The LaPorte County (Ind.) Sheriff’s Office and the Lake County (Ind.) Sheriff’s Office provided valuable assistance.
“The defendant trafficked in and attempted to profit from violence,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian S. Wallach argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “There is a need to make clear to individuals who find themselves in a similar position that a decision to pick up firearms – whether for personal use or to sell – will have serious consequences.”
The three successful sales occurred in October and November 2015. The transactions occurred in a store parking lot on Torrence Avenue in south suburban Lansing, a store on 83rd Street in Chicago, and a store parking lot on River Oaks Drive in south suburban Calumet City. In exchange for the six firearms and ammunition, the informant paid Hudson a total of $2,550 in cash.
The fourth sale was supposed to have occurred in a store parking lot on 79th Street in Chicago. When the informant arrived at the meeting, Hudson directed him to an alternative location – a store on 159th Street in Calumet City. Shortly after Hudson arrived at the new location, Chicago Police officers approached his vehicle, and Hudson fled to Indiana. Law enforcement officers subsequently stopped his vehicle in Michigan City, Ind., and took him into custody.
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