CHICAGO, IL – Scott Treece, 35, of Rockford, Illinois, is headed to federal prison for more than seven years after being convicted of illegally trafficking firearms into Chicago. The sentence, handed down on November 7, 2022, by U.S. District Judge Edmund E. Chang, reflects the severity of Treece’s operation, which saw at least ten guns moved from Georgia to the streets of Chicago between September 2020 and January 2021.
Treece, a convicted felon, couldn’t legally purchase firearms himself. Instead, he relied on a network of “straw purchasers” – individuals with clean records who bought the guns for him. Among those assisting Treece was Kyle Hall, 23, of Algonquin, Illinois, and two other individuals residing in Georgia. The scheme wasn’t just about moving guns; after his initial arrest, Treece actively attempted to intimidate Hall and silence the other straw purchasers, instructing them not to cooperate with law enforcement. That brazen attempt at obstruction only compounded his legal trouble.
The bust came after Treece sold a firearm to a confidential informant. During his arrest, authorities recovered an additional firearm and several extended magazines, painting a clear picture of a man heavily involved in the illegal gun trade. Treece ultimately pleaded guilty to unlawfully dealing in firearms and possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jasmina Vajzovic successfully argued that Treece, despite a gap in convictions since 2009, demonstrated a clear pattern of violent and unlawful behavior.
Hall, the co-defendant, has already pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly transferring a firearm to a felon and is now awaiting his own sentencing before Judge Chang. This case is a prime example of the ATF and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois working to choke off the flow of illegal firearms into the city. U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch, Jr. emphasized the focus on disrupting these trafficking networks.
This prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s Chicago Firearms Trafficking Strike Force, a collaborative effort involving ATF and various federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The Strike Force aims to identify patterns and suspects linked to gun violence and curb the supply of illegally trafficked weapons. The case also falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program deployed by Lausch and his partners to combat a wide range of violent crime, with a particular emphasis on firearm offenses.
Treece’s 90-month sentence sends a message: those who profit from fueling gun violence will face serious consequences. Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Jeffrey L. Matthews of the Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives highlighted the agency’s commitment to holding firearm offenders accountable through federal prosecution, aiming to make Chicago’s streets safer, one illegal gun at a time.
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