ROCKFORD — A Rockford man was sentenced today to seven and a half years in federal prison for illegally possessing a loaded semi-automatic handgun.
SHAZARIYAH F. HIBBETT, 33, illegally possessed the gun on Oct. 27, 2020. Hibbett was a passenger in a vehicle that Rockford Police officers attempted to stop. The driver of the vehicle drove from officers at a high rate of speed, eventually stopping in a residential area. Hibbett got out of the passenger side and immediately discarded the handgun outside of the vehicle. He then fled on foot before being apprehended by police a few blocks away.
Hibbett pleaded guilty earlier this year to a charge of illegal possession of a firearm. He had previously been convicted of multiple felony offenses and was prohibited by federal law from possessing a gun.
U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston imposed the 90-month sentence after a hearing in federal court in Rockford.
The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Kristen de Tineo, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; and Carla Redd, Chief of the Rockford Police Department. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica S. Maveus.