PEORIA, IL – Jacobi Turner-Claudin, 29, of Peoria, Illinois, is headed to federal prison for forty months after pleading guilty to possessing firearm ammunition as a convicted felon. The sentence, handed down on November 10, 2022, by Senior U.S. District Judge Michael M. Mihm, underscores the federal commitment to keeping guns and ammo out of the hands of those legally prohibited from owning them.
The case unfolded on April 21, 2022, when Peoria Police attempted to stop a vehicle with Turner-Claudin as a passenger. The driver fled, leading officers on a chase that ended abruptly when the car crashed into a backyard on North Bourland Avenue. Turner-Claudin bailed from the vehicle and was quickly apprehended in a nearby dry creek bed. A search revealed he was carrying three cell phones, baggies of cannabis, and, critically, an extended .45 caliber magazine loaded with twelve rounds.
Turner-Claudin admitted to federal agents he was considering buying a firearm that day. This revelation was particularly damning given his prior felony conviction, which legally barred him from possessing any ammunition. The incident didn’t end with Turner-Claudin’s arrest, however. A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered two additional .45 caliber firearms, both loaded and equipped with high-capacity drum magazines capable of holding 50 rounds each.
One of the recovered pistols was even more concerning: it was fitted with an illegal “auto sear switch,” a device that can convert a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic machine gun. This detail suggests a potential escalation in the intent of those involved, raising the stakes beyond simple illegal possession. Two other occupants of the vehicle were also arrested during the incident, though their cases were not detailed in the press release.
Turner-Claudin was indicted in May 2022 and entered a guilty plea in July 2022. He has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service awaiting sentencing. While the statutory maximum for his crime is fifteen years in prison and a $250,000 fine, Judge Mihm opted for the forty-month sentence, followed by a three-year term of supervised release.
The investigation was a collaborative effort between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Illinois State Police, and the Peoria Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald L. Hanna prosecuted the case, framing it as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” initiative – a broad program aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence through coordinated law enforcement efforts and community engagement.
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