Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Man Sentenced to More Than 12 Years in Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing Gun and Drugs in Chicago
CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison for illegally possessing a loaded semiautomatic handgun and cocaine at a Chicago gas station.
JEREMY INGRAM, 30, of Chicago, illegally possessed the gun and drugs on July 11, 2019, in the Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side. The firearm had a 16-round magazine attached to it, while the cocaine was packaged in multiple clear baggies. When Chicago Police officers approached Ingram, he attempted to flee in his car. Ingram continued to physically resist the officers as they apprehended and arrested him.
Ingram had previously been convicted of multiple felonies in state court and was not legally allowed to possess a firearm. He was on parole for his most recent felony conviction at the time of the federal offenses.
Ingram pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal firearm and drug charges. U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman on Dec. 14, 2022, imposed a prison sentence of 12 years and seven months.
The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Jeffrey L. Matthews, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and David Brown, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jasmina Vajzovic represented the government.
Holding illegal firearm possessors accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy. 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.