Convicted felon gets 5 years for possession of a loaded handgun

CHICAGO , ILLINOIS — A convicted felon has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for illegally possessing a loaded handgun in the West Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago.

LARRY CARADINE, 30, of Chicago, illegally possessed the firearm in the 4700 block of West Monroe Street on the afternoon of Oct. 26, 2018. Chicago Police officers observed Caradine drop the gun onto the ground. As an eight-time convicted felon, Caradine was not legally allowed to possess a firearm. Caradine was on parole at the time of the offense after recently serving a two-year sentence for a state narcotics conviction.

Caradine pleaded guilty to the federal charge last year. U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey imposed a 63-month prison sentence Wednesday after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Kristen deTineo, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and David Brown, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office provided valuable assistance.

“The possession of illegal weapons by convicted felons is contributing to the cycle of violence that continues on a daily basis in this city,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher V. Parente argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Despite repeated criminal convictions and repeated sentences of imprisonment, the defendant continues to escalate his criminal behavior and continues to break the law.”

Holding illegal firearm possessors accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Guardian and Project Safe Neighborhoods. In the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Attorney Lausch and law enforcement partners have deployed the Guardian and PSN programs to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses.

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