Schaumburg man charged in St. Louis-to-Chicago gunrunning scheme

A Schaumburg resident is one of four men charged with federal firearm offenses alleging they unlawfully trafficked guns from St. Louis to Chicago, authorities said Thursday.

Prosecutors say Rogelio Mancera, 27, of Schaumburg was arrested Tuesday after federal agents searched his storage locker in the village and discovered more than 25 firearms, including machine guns.

Mancera, who made an initial appearance Thursday morning in federal court in Chicago, is charged with willfully dealing firearms without a license, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

His co-defendants are Robert Narup, 71, of Washington, Missouri, charged with willfully dealing firearms without a license; Jerome Boykin, 30, of St. Louis, charged with possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime; and Rodolfo Ortega, 26, of Chicago, a felon charged with illegally possessing two firearms, authorities said.

Criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago accuse Narup of buying firearms at gun shows throughout the U.S. and illegally selling them to Boykin in St. Louis.

Boykin then brought the guns to Chicago and sold them to Mancera in exchange for marijuana, the charges allege. Mancera resold the guns to Ortega, who in turn would sell them to various buyers on the streets of Chicago, according to the charges.

Narup was arrested on Oct. 15 in the St. Louis area after selling 18 firearms and two silencers to an undercover law enforcement agent in a retail store parking lot, prosecutors said.

Boykin was arrested Oct. 8 in the Chicago area after selling more than 20 firearms to Mancera in exchange for marijuana, authorities allege. Ortega was arrested Monday.

Boykin faces five years to life in prison if convicted, prosecutors said. Ortega could be sentenced to a maximum 10 years in prison, if found guilty, while Narup and Mancera would each face a five-year maximum.