CHICAGO: A federal jury convicted a man for illegally selling “ghost guns” to Chicago felons.
Joseph Ghandour was convicted by the U.S. District Court of Chicago Thursday for illegally selling an AR-15 rifle that he had purchased from him in a Deerfield, Ill. grocery store parking lot on July 28, 2017.
Because the gun had no serial number, it was considered a ghost gun.
It was made from parts from different sources and was not identifiable by the manufacturer. Ghandour was unaware that the felon who sold the rifle to him cooperated with law enforcement.
Ghandour, 31, from Glenview, Ill., was convicted for selling or disposing a firearm to an incarcerated felon who couldn’t lawfully possess it.
This charge can result in a maximum of up to ten years in federal jail. U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis has scheduled sentencing for June 22, 20,22, at 10:30 a.m.
John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Emmerson BUIE, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Office of FBI, announced the conviction.
The government is represented in this case by U.S. Assistant. Albert Berry III and Chester Choi are the government’s attorneys.
The Department of Justice’s multi-jurisdictional strike force is focused on disrupting the illegal firearms trade.
The Chicago firearms trafficking strike team includes the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal, state, and local law enforcement partners from across the country.
This collaboration helps stem illegally traded firearms and identify patterns and leads that could lead to criminal gun crime.