Anthony Morgan, Firearms Conspiracy, Illinois 2024

CHICAGO - A federal judge today sentenced Anthony Morgan, 32, to 4 years in prison for unlawfully supplying guns to a violent street gang in Chicago.

Between February 2015 and May 2016, Morgan directed and paid for an acquaintance to purchase at least 7 guns in New Mexico. The weapons were shipped through the mail to Morgan's residence in Chicago, where he supplied some of the guns to members of his violent street gang on the city's South Side.

Law enforcement later tied 2 of the firearms to homicides, including the November 2015 murder of 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee in Chicago's Auburn Gresham neighborhood.

Morgan pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal firearms conspiracy charge. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle imposed the 48-month sentence in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Timothy Jones, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and Eddie Johnson, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

Substantial assistance was provided by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.

During the investigation, law enforcement utilized ATF's National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), which linked firearms from multiple crime scenes, allowing law enforcement to quickly disrupt shooting cycles.

Holding firearms traffickers accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Department of Justice's violent crime reduction strategy.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/source-firearms-violent-chicago-gang-sentenced-4-years-prison