PEORIA, Ill. – A federal jury returned guilty verdicts today against Anthony Tony Gay, of the 1200 block of 14th St., in Rock Island, Illinois, for possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon. Sentencing for Gay has been scheduled for September 16, 2022, at the federal courthouse in Peoria, Illinois.
Over three days of testimony, the government presented evidence to establish that on May 31, 2020, a vehicle in which Gay was a passenger was stopped by Rock Island police officers for a traffic violation. Gay fled from the traffic stop, but fell down as he was being chased by police and was arrested a short distance away. When officers retraced Gay’s flight path, they found a loaded Glock model 36 .45 pistol in the location where he fell. The Glock had previously been reported stolen in March 2020.
Approximately two weeks later, on June 14, 2020, Rock Island police were called to a Rock Island motel where Gay had been renting a room when he was arrested for the gun charge. As motel personnel were cleaning Gay’s room and removing his belongings, one of them located a bag of .45 ammunition containing the same type of rounds that had been loaded in the Glock pistol.
The government also established that Gay had a number of prior felony convictions, including robbery, aggravated battery, and possession of a weapon in prison.
Gay was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. At sentencing, Gay faces statutory penalties on each count of up to 10 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, and up to a three-year term of supervised release.
The investigation was conducted by the Rock Island Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Mehochko, Alyssa Raya, and Jennifer Mathew represented the United States in the prosecution.