Man pleads guilty, agrees to give up arsenal

A Lake Forest man who authorities said illegally had 85 firearms, including a pair of military machine guns, was placed on probation Monday after pleading guilty in Lake County Circuit Court.

Benjamin Stevens, 51, admitted to a single count of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon during a hearing before Circuit Judge Fred Foreman.

Assistant State's Attorney Ari Fisz said Lake Forest police and agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raided Stevens' house May 8, 2008.

Authorities had been issued a search warrant because Stevens' state Firearm Owner's Identification card had been revoked in 2002, and he was believed to still have weapons in his house.

Police found 49 handguns, 34 rifles and a pair of .30- and .50-caliber military machine guns in the house on the 1900 block of Telegraph Road, Fisz said, along with thousands of rounds of ammunition.

Stevens' attorney, Douglas Zeit of Waukegan, maintained his client was a weapons collector who had obtained all the guns legally and stored them unloaded.

Foreman ordered that all of the weapons taken in the raid, except for three owned by Stevens' wife who has a valid FOID card, will be destroyed under the terms of the plea negotiation.

Stevens pleaded guilty to a felony charge and was placed on probation for two years.

However, his plea agreement states the charge will be reduced to a misdemeanor if he completes the first year without further violation of the law.

Foreman also ordered Stevens to make a $1,000 donation to Lake County Crime Stoppers as part of his sentence.

Fisz said Stevens faced a maximum of three years in prison if he had been convicted after a trial.