Man Gets 7 Years For Storing Grenades at Elgin Storage Facility

A 33-year-old Addison man who stored two live grenades, a grenade launcher and five fully automatic long guns in a storage locker in Elgin has received the maximum sentence for weapons' violations in Kane County, prosecutors said Monday. Juan A. Mexicano, of the 19W block of Army Trail Road in Addison, will serve seven years in prison after he pleaded guilty to seven counts of unlawful use of a weapon and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon. The charges were filled following an investigation by several local police agencies and federal agencies, according to a news release by the Kane County State's Attorney's Office.

The investigation lead to Elgin police officers serving a search warrant at a storage facility in the 600 block of Big Timber Road for a unit being rented by Mexicano, prosecutors said. Inside, authorities found 31 weapons and thousands of rounds of live ammunition. The weapons included a Colt AR15, a Schmeisser rifle, a Thompson sub-machine gun, a grenade launcher and two live grenades. Authorities say all of the weapons belonged to Mexicano

The sentence, which is the maximum allowed under Illinois law, is being served in conjunction with a sentence delivered to Mexicano in federal court in California on a conviction for cocaine distribution conspiracy charges, prosecutors said.

“Mr. Mexicano is a gun and drug dealer whose capture and prosecution is the result of cooperation across multiple state and federal agencies and the Elgin Police Department," said Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon. "Removing these fully automatic weapons, dozens of other firearms, explosive devices and thousands of rounds of ammunition is a small but important victory against those who engage in violent crime and participate in the deadly and illegal drug trafficking trade."

PHOTO VIA THE KANE COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY'S OFFICE