Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Peoria Felon Sentenced to 57 Months’ Imprisonment for Possession of a Firearm
PEORIA, Ill. — A Peoria, Illinois, man, Jamarcus J. Hollingsworth, 30, was sentenced today to 57 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release, possessing a firearm as a felon.
At the sentencing hearing before Senior U.S. District Judge Joe B. McDade, the government established that in May 2023, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives received information that Hollingsworth, a felon, was in possession of firearms and was offering to sell a pistol in Peoria. The Peoria Area Federal Firearms Task Force conducted an investigation that led to the arrest of Hollingsworth at a hotel on West War Memorial Drive. During the course of the arrest, agents located a loaded pistol on the driver’s seat of the car Hollingsworth had been driving. Agents then obtained a search warrant for Hollingsworth’s home and, during the search, located an AR-15 rifle loaded with 28 rounds of live ammunition. The serial number on the rifle had been obliterated. At the time of his arrest, Hollingsworth was on parole for a state conviction for aggravated robbery, having previously been sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections.
A federal criminal complaint was filed against Hollingsworth in May 2023 and an indictment followed in June 2023. He pleaded guilty in September 2023.
The statutory penalties for possessing a firearm as a felon are up to 15 years’ imprisonment and up to 3 years of supervised release.
The Peoria Area Federal Firearms Task Force, comprised of agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Peoria Police Department; the Peoria County Sheriff’s Department; Illinois Department of Corrections; and the Illinois State Police, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald L. Hanna represented the government in the prosecution.
The case against Hollingsworth is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results.
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