Gurnee man gets 12-year sentence on fentanyl, cocaine charges

A Gurnee man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison on federal drug and firearms charges alleging he trafficked fentanyl and cocaine, authorities said Wednesday.

William Fillyaw, 47, was arrested in October 2022 after federal prosecutors say he was found with a loaded handgun and a backpack containing cocaine packaged in quarter-ounce quantities and fentanyl wrapped in three square bricks.

Prosecutors alleged Fillyaw intended to sell the fentanyl and cocaine on the streets, and he acknowledged having the gun in connection with his drug dealing.

The firearm had no serial number and had been assembled from a gun kit, making it an untraceable “ghost gun,” authorities said.

Fillyaw, who pleaded guilty in February, was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly in federal court in Chicago.

“Narcotics distribution and firearm offenses are serious crimes that adversely impact the people who live and work in the Northern District of Illinois,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirsten Moran and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Niranjan Emani argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “The increased presence of ghost guns in Chicago, and the country in general, is troubling, as they are often used in crimes and are difficult to trace.”