Man Tied to Illegal Gun Transaction Gets Prison Time

KANE COUNTY, IL — An Ohio man will go to prison for illegally purchasing a rifle on behalf of someone else, which police found in 2016 in an Elgin storage locker, prosecutors said. Favio Velazquez, 40, of Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of unlawful purchase of a firearm, a Class 2 felony.

The charge stems from an Oct. 18, 2013, purchase by Velazquez of a Barrett .50-caliber rifle from 1st Class Firearms in Zion. At the time of the purchase Velazquez filled out a federal firearms transactions record affirming that he was the actual buyer of the gun, Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney William Engerman said in court.

Authorities traced Velzaquez back to the gun when they served a search warrant at the storage facility in the 600 block of Big Timber Road in Elgin on Aug. 12, 2016. Homeland Security Investigations, the Kane County Sheriff's Office and Elgin Police Department were all involved in the investigation and found multiple weapons, including the Barrett rifle and other automatic weapons, and concluded that Velzaquez had no ties to the storage unit, according to a news release.

The man who was renting the storage unit, Juan Mexicano of Addison, was sentenced to seven years in prison in January after pleading guilty to nine felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon for illegally possessing the guns, along with the ammunition, in the storage locker, prosecutors said.

Two other people, Dana J. Prouty and Ira A. Burdine, were convicted in Lake County court for offenses related to selling the firearm to Velazquez.

“The conviction and prison sentence of Mr. Velazquez for his straw purchase of the rifle for another individual is a victory against violent criminals who participate in the deadly and illegal firearms trade," Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said in a statement Monday.

Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations Chicago James M. Gibbons echoed that sentiment.

“This joint investigation demonstrates that law enforcement can combat emerging and existing transnational criminal organizations by employing the full range of federal, state and local law enforcement authorities and resources in the fight to identify, investigate, disrupt and dismantle these organizations at every level of operation," he said.