Chicago man pleads guilty to being an armed habitual criminal in DuPage County
What began as an Oakbrook Terrace traffic stop for a suspended registration on the evening of March 18, 2017, has led to a Chicago man facing up to 30 years in prison.
Kokoh Lewis, 31, pleaded guilty Monday to the charge of being an armed habitual criminal, in exchange for prosecutors dropping nine felony and misdemeanor charges.
In Illinois, a person commits the offense of being an armed habitual criminal if he or she receives, sells, possesses or transfers any firearm after having been convicted a total of two or more times of any combination of several offenses, including unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, aggravated discharge of a firearm, gunrunning, home invasion or aggravated battery with a firearm, among others.
About 9:25 p.m. March 18, 2017, Oakbrook Terrace police officers pulled over Lewis' 2011 Infiniti for a suspended registration.
During the stop, officers discovered an uncased and loaded Beretta 9 mm semi-automatic handgun in the car and more than 15 grams of cocaine.
While Lewis was being searched, he pushed the elbow of the Oakbrook Terrace officer searching him and briefly ran away before being arrested.
Lewis faces between 6 and 30 years in prison when he is sentenced by Judge John Kinsella on Sept. 18.