Aurora man pleads guilty to hiding gun used in drive-by shooting

An Aurora man pleaded guilty Friday to misdemeanor unlawful use of a weapon in connection with a September 2018 drive-by shooting in Aurora.

Javier Melendez, 21, of the 700 block of Hankes Avenue, was sentenced to four days in jail and 30 months of conditional discharge, according to Kane County court records.

Aurora police said that, in 2018, two 17-year-olds drove by a group of men standing in front of a house on Loucks Street. Richard M. Bennett, of the 1700 block of Hazelnut Lane, was accused of firing a shotgun; projectiles struck an 18-year-old man in the face.

The two drove farther down the street, turned around and fired at the group again, hitting another person, in the back. One of the victims refused medical treatment. None of the injuries were considered life-threatening, police said.

They then went to Melendez' house. He took the shotgun and hid it in a closet, police said.

Bennett, 20, of the 1700 block of Hazelnut Lane, pleaded guilty March 1 to felony armed violence, for which he was sentenced to 13 years in prison, and aggravated discharge of a weapon, for which he received a five-year sentence. The sentences will be served concurrently, and he received credit for the almost 2½ years he spent in the Kane County jail awaiting trial.