Kankakee Kingpin Guardiola Gets 11+ Years for Gun Trafficking

URBANA, Ill. – Jesse Guardiola, 43, of Grant Park, Illinois, is headed to federal prison for over eleven years after being sentenced for a string of firearm offenses. U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce handed down a 140-month (11 years, 8 months) sentence on February 17th, stemming from five counts of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon. Guardiola, identified by law enforcement as a member of the Kankakee Latin Kings, has been cooling his heels in U.S. Marshals custody since his arrest back in June of 2016.

The sentence isn’t a simple stacking of time. Judge Bruce ordered 120 months to be served concurrently across the five counts, but tacked on an additional 20 months to be served consecutively, bringing the total to 140 months. Upon release, Guardiola will face three years of supervised release – assuming he makes it that far. The feds weren’t messing around with this one.

Guardiola pled guilty back in October of 2016 to possessing a veritable armory of illegal weapons. The indictment detailed five firearms acquired and held by Guardiola despite prior felony convictions in Will, Kendall, and Kankakee counties. The list reads like a shadow market inventory: a Llama .380 caliber handgun (August 18, 2014), a Norinco, Model SKS, 7.62 x 39 caliber firearm (February 11, 2015), a Hi Point, Model JHP, .45 caliber handgun (February 24, 2015), another Norinco, Model SKS, 7.62 x 39 caliber firearm (April 16, 2015), and finally, a Colt, Model MKIV Series 80, Officers ACP, .45 caliber handgun (May 27, 2015).

But possession wasn’t the extent of Guardiola’s crimes. The court found that he wasn’t just hoarding these firearms; he was actively selling them. All five weapons were knowingly peddled to a confidential informant, adding a layer of calculated danger to his actions. This wasn’t about collecting; it was about profit, and putting guns on the street.

The bust is the result of a sustained effort by the Kankakee Area Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force – a coalition of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Kankakee Police Department, and the Kankakee County State’s Attorney’s Office. They’ve been chipping away at gun violence in the area, and Guardiola is just one piece of a larger, ongoing investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Freres, prosecuting the case out of the Urbana Division, secured the conviction and the hefty sentence. While 11 years won’t solve the gun violence problem in Kankakee, it sends a clear message: trafficking firearms while a convicted felon, especially with ties to a gang like the Latin Kings, will land you a long stay in federal prison. This case serves as a warning to others looking to profit from illegal gun sales in the region.