A federal jury has convicted a man on a firearm charge for illegally selling a ‘ghost gun’ to a convicted felon in a Chicago suburb.
Joseph Ghandour, 31, of Glenview, Ill., was convicted of selling or disposing of a firearm to a convicted felon who could not lawfully possess a firearm. The charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of ten years in federal prison.
The conviction was announced by officials in the Northern District of Illinois. Disrupting illegal firearms trafficking is a centerpiece of the cross-jurisdictional strike force aimed at reducing gun violence.
Ghandour was convicted of selling an AR-15 rifle to the felon during a meeting in a grocery store parking lot in Deerfield, Ill., on July 28, 2017. The rifle was considered a ‘ghost gun’ because it contained no identifiable serial number and had been manufactured by another individual from parts collected from various sources.
Unbeknownst to Ghandour, the felon to whom he sold the rifle was cooperating with law enforcement. Ghandour’s conviction is the result of an investigation led by the FBI’s Chicago Field Office.
U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis scheduled sentencing for June 22, 2022, at 10:30 a.m. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Albert Berry III and Chester Choi.
The conviction is a significant blow to those involved in illegal firearms trafficking in the Northern District of Illinois. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will continue to work with law enforcement partners to disrupt the supply of illegally trafficked firearms and identify patterns, leads, and potential suspects in violent gun crimes.
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Key Facts
- State: Illinois
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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