Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Rockford Man Sentenced to Six Years in Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing Firearms
ROCKFORD — A Rockford man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for illegally possessing loaded handguns.
JAMES PETERSON, 41, last year illegally possessed a .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun and a .45-caliber handgun. As a previously convicted felon, Peterson was not lawfully allowed to possess a firearm.
U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston imposed the prison sentence Friday after a hearing in federal court in Rockford.
The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Angie Salazar, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations. Substantial assistance was provided by the Illinois State Police’s State Line Area Narcotics Team (SLANT), the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Ladd.
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