CHICAGO, IL – Deshawn Danzler, 28, of Chicago, is facing over eight years in federal prison after two judges delivered consecutive sentences for possessing a loaded handgun equipped with an illegal switch—effectively turning it into a fully automatic machinegun—and violating the terms of his supervised release. The case highlights a pattern of disregard for the law by a repeat offender with a history of silence in the face of violence.
The trouble began in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood when Chicago Police officers initiated a traffic stop. Danzler, already on supervised release from a federal contempt conviction, panicked and attempted to flee, engaging in a two-minute struggle with officers before they recovered a handgun concealed in his crotch. He later pled guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon in October 2022. This wasn’t his first run-in with the law; Danzler boasts four prior felony convictions.
The roots of Danzler’s legal woes run deeper than just the illegal firearm. In 2015, he was the victim of a brutal shooting, sustaining wounds to the head, wrist, and thigh. Tragically, his neighbor was killed in the same attack. Despite knowing the identity of the shooter, Danzler refused to cooperate with police, shielding the perpetrator. Four years later, that silence landed him in federal court. He refused to testify before a grand jury regarding the 2015 shooting, earning him a conviction for criminal contempt of court under Judge Ronald A. Guzman.
On February 24, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas M. Durkin sentenced Danzler to 62 months in prison for the firearms charge. But the legal consequences didn’t end there. Just days later, on April 6, 2023, Danzler reappeared before Judge Guzman, this time facing sentencing for violating his supervised release. Guzman added another 37 months to Danzler’s sentence, to run consecutively with the previous term, bringing the total imprisonment to eight years and three months.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Mulaney argued forcefully against leniency, stating in a sentencing memo that Danzler’s past as a shooting victim didn’t excuse his current actions. “Rather than find other ways to protect himself, defendant squandered the ‘last chance’ that Judge Guzman gave to him,” Mulaney wrote. “By carrying a machinegun on supervised release, and resisting the officers’ efforts to recover it safely, defendant demonstrated that he is a danger to the community.”
The investigation and prosecution were spearheaded by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Chicago Police Department, with Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual for the Northern District of Illinois overseeing the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Charles Mulaney and Albert Berry III represented the government. The case serves as a stark reminder that possessing illegal weapons, especially those capable of fully automatic fire, and disregarding the law will carry severe consequences in federal court.
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