Man gets 7 years in prison for stashing grenade launcher, ammunition in storage locker
An Addison man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for keeping a stash of ammunition and weapons, including a grenade launcher, at an Elgin storage facility in 2016.
Juan A. Mexicano, 33, of the 19W0-99 block of Army Trail Road, pleaded guilty in August to nine felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon and was sentenced Friday by Judge Kathryn Karayannis to the maximum term under Illinois law, according to Kane County prosecutors.
Mexicano can have his sentence cut in half for good behavior under Illinois law, but he won't necessarily be free.
His Illinois sentence will be served at the same time, or concurrently, with serving a longer, federal prison term for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
In that case, according to federal court records, Mexicano was charged in August 2017, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 11 years and 3 months prison in December 2018 in federal court in San Diego. He gets credit for 14 months served while his federal case was pending, records show.
After an investigation by Elgin police and other agencies, Mexicano was arrested and charged in September 2016 after authorities executed a search warrant at a storage facility on the 600 block of Big Timber Road that was being rented by Mexicano.
Authorities said they seized 31 weapons, including five fully automatic long guns, a grenade launcher and two live grenades, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Among the automatic rifles found were a Colt AR-15, a Schmeisser rifle, and a Thompson submachine gun, prosecutors said.
The Elgin Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Kane County Sheriff's Office and the Chicago Police Department conducted the joint investigation.
Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon thanked the numerous agencies involved in the investigation. "Removing these fully automatic weapons, dozens of other firearms, explosive devices and thousands of rounds of ammunition is a small but important victory against those who engage in violent crime and participate in the deadly and illegal drug trafficking trade," McMahon said.