CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has charged a man with illegally possessing a loaded handgun, cocaine, and fentanyl on a Chicago Transit Authority train.
The indictment in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges TERRELL WEATHERS, 29, of Chicago, with one count of illegal possession of a firearm, one count of possession of cocaine and fentanyl with the intent to distribute, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The indictment alleges that Weathers illegally possessed the handgun, cocaine, and fentanyl on July 13, 2021. Chicago Police officers boarded a CTA Green Line train at the Adams/Wabash stop in the city’s downtown Loop neighborhood and arrested Weathers.
Weathers was previously convicted of a criminal felony and was prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm.
The charges in the federal indictment carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a maximum of life. Arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes has been set for Oct. 3, 2022, at 1:00 p.m.
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Ashley T. Johnson, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; and David Brown, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Marie E. Ursini.
“Anyone thinking of illegally possessing a firearm on public transit in Chicago needs to know that a federal prosecution could await them,” said U.S. Attorney Lausch. “We will continue to use every available federal law enforcement tool to keep Chicago transit riders safe.”
Holding alleged drug and firearm offenders accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy. In the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Attorney Lausch and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.