Cumberland South Gun Death: Two-Six Gang Member Gets Prison Term

JOLIET, IL — A Two-Six gang member from Joliet's Cumberland South subdivision has been sentenced to nearly 10 years at the Illinois Department of Corrections in connection with the shooting death of a 23-year-old Lockport man. Jacob Megrant, now 21, was recently sentenced by Will County Circuit Judge Daniel Rippy to 9-and-a-half years prison as part of a plea bargain with the Will County State's Attorney's Office of Jim Glasgow.

In August 2018, Megrant was charged with a dozen crimes including multiple counts of armed violence and multiple counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. However, 11 of Megrant's charges were dismissed under this month's plea bargain.

Megrant pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of controlled substances with intent to deliver, which is a Class X felony. Sentencing documents also reveal that Megrant is a member of the Two-Six street gang.

"The defendant was at a home in Joliet where another person died from a gunshot wound. The defendant fled the scene. The defendant was found in a neighboring county with two handguns and approximately 20 grams of cocaine," Megrant's sentencing document reads.

After a lengthy Joliet Police Department investigation back in 2018, Megrant was not charged with killing Alexander Perez. However, given the facts of the case, Will County Judge Art Smigielski set Megrant's bail at $2 million back in August 2018.

Joliet police investigators later determined that the shooting in the 6800 block of Hadrian Drive appeared to be accidental. Prosecutors said that Perez had been visiting Megrant's house in the Cumberland South subdivision to purchase drugs, and the Lockport man was later shot in the chest during their drug transaction.

Several other people were inside the home at the time of the shooting, prosecutors revealed at Megrant's 2018 bail hearing. Immediately after the shooting, Megrant ran out of his house and drove away from the area. The other people inside his house carried the shooting victim outside and put him down in the driveway,which is where Perez died from the single gunshot wound to his chest.

The deadly shooting occurred on the city's far west side in the Plainfield area.

Early the next morning, the Illinois State Police helped Joliet police capture Megrant in Downstate Illinois, about 100 miles from Joliet, near Bloomington, Ill.

Sentencing records indicate Megrant received credit for the nearly two years he spent in the Will County Jail awaiting trial, Aug. 30, 2018 through Aug. 4, 2020.

During his criminal court proceedings, Megrant was represented by the downtown Joliet law firm of Chuck Bretz & Associates.