Chicago, IL-(ENEWSPF)- 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.
The jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Thursday convicted JOSEPH GHANDOUR of illegally 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, 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. U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis scheduled sentencing for June 22, 2022, at 10:30 a.m.
The conviction was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Albert Berry III and Chester Choi.
Disrupting illegal firearms trafficking is a centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s cross-jurisdictional strike force aimed at reducing gun violence. As part of the Chicago firearms trafficking strike force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office collaborates with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners in the Northern District of Illinois and across the country to help stem the supply of illegally trafficked firearms and identify patterns, leads, and potential suspects in violent gun crimes.
This is a release from the United States Department of Justice.
