Chicago Gun Trafficker Jailed for 5.5 Years

A federal judge has sentenced a firearms trafficker to five and a half years in prison for unlawfully dealing guns in Chicago. Jesus Sanchez, 23, of Chicago, pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal firearm offenses.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, from April to June last year, Sanchez sold seven firearms to an undercover law enforcement agent. Authorities later conducted a court-authorized search of Sanchez’s residence and discovered ten firearm magazines and three boxes of .22-caliber ammunition.

When agents arrived to conduct the search, Sanchez ran from the residence and tossed a firearm into a neighbor’s backyard. Sanchez had previously been convicted of a gun-related felony and was not lawfully allowed to possess a firearm. U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly imposed the 66-month prison sentence during a hearing Tuesday in federal court in Chicago.

The Department of Justice’s Firearms Trafficking Strike Force is focused on disrupting illegal firearms trafficking. As part of the strike force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office collaborates with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Chicago Police Department, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to stem the supply of illegally trafficked firearms.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has also deployed the Project Safe Neighborhoods program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses. “Gun trafficking perpetuates the cycle of violence in this city, which is overwhelmed with gun violence,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret A. Steindorf argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

Disrupting illegal firearms trafficking is a top priority for law enforcement in Chicago. The city has seen devastating gun violence in recent years, and authorities are working to address the issue through federal prosecution and community outreach. Sanchez’s conviction and sentence are a significant step towards holding those responsible for gun trafficking accountable.