Month: July 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

Tampa, Florida – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Davion Rivers (27, Bradenton) guilty of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Rivers faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years, and up to life, in federal prison. His sentencing hearing has not been set yet.  Rivers had been indicted on August 27, 2020.

According to testimony presented at trial, on August 10, 2020, law enforcement officers encountered Rivers when they responded to a call for service. Rivers yelled at the officers and pushed one of them. An officer saw that Rivers had a firearm in his pocket after the push. The officer tased Rivers and recovered the firearm from his pocket. The firearm was a Taurus Judge, a revolver that can fire shotgun shells, and which had five spent shell casings in the cylinder. Officers later secured a search warrant for Rivers’s phone and found that it contained a text message thread where Rivers had negotiated and agreed to buy the firearm.

As a previously convicted felon, Rivers is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under the law.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Bradenton Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Charlie D. Connally and David W.A. Chee.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – A Minneapolis, Minnesota, man, Hasan Raqueed Grayson, 39, of the 1900 block of North Penn Avenue, was sentenced on July 8, 2022, to 36 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release for possessing a firearm as a felon.

Grayson, who had been previously convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, sold a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson handgun, a holster, two magazines, and six rounds of ammunition to an undercover detective with the Moline Police Department.

Grayson entered a plea of guilty to the charge in January 2022 and agreed to forfeit the handgun, magazines, and ammunition to the government. Grayson faced a statutory maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.  

“This case is another example of the concerted efforts of the Moline Police Department to remove an illegally possessed firearm from the streets of our community,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer L. Mathew. “Individuals who illegally possess firearms will be held accountable for their conduct.”

The investigation was conducted by the Moline, Illinois, Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer L. Mathew represented the federal government in the prosecution.

The case against Grayson was brought as part of The Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. The Department’s renewed commitment to Project Safe Neighborhoods establishes four fundamental principles to guide efforts to reduce violent crime: 1) build trust and legitimacy within communities; 2) invest in community-based prevention and intervention programs; 3) target enforcement and priorities to focus resources on identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the most significant drivers of gun violence and other violent crime; and, 4) measure results with the goal to reduce the level of violence in our communities and not to increase the number of arrests and prosecutions as if they were ends in themselves.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – A Galesburg, Illinois, father and son, Gilbert Dean Bicknell, 53, and Michael Gilbert Dean Bicknell, 28, were sentenced to federal prison on July 7, 2022, for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Michael Bicknell was sentenced to 168 months’ imprisonment and his father, Gilbert Bicknell, was sentenced to 156 months’ imprisonment, both to be followed by a five-year term of supervised release.

At the sentencing hearing in front of Chief U.S. District Judge Sara L. Darrow, the government presented evidence that demonstrated that Michael Bicknell and Gilbert Bicknell were working together in early 2020 to procure kilograms of methamphetamine for distribution in the Galesburg, Illinois, area.

Also at the hearing, Chief Judge Darrow commented on the devastating impact that methamphetamine has had on communities within the Central District of Illinois.

Michael Bicknell entered a plea of guilty to the offense on February 2, 2022. Gilbert Bicknell entered a plea of guilty to the offense on August 10, 2021. The statutory penalties for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine are 10 years to life imprisonment and a maximum lifetime term of supervised release.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Office; Galesburg, Illinois, Police Department; and Knox County, Illinois, Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Mathew represented the government in the prosecution.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A Mesquite, Texas, man, Anthony Davis, 32, of the 2000 block of Aloha Drive, was sentenced on July 7, 2022, to 30 months in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, to be followed by 36 months of supervised release for possessing a firearm after having previously been convicted of a felony.

At the sentencing hearing in front of U.S. District Judge Sue E. Myerscough, the government presented evidence that Davis was stopped by the Illinois State Police (ISP) while traveling on Interstate 55 for having an obstructed license plate. The ISP trooper learned that Davis’s driver’s license was suspended and a lit marijuana “blunt” was found in the car. A subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered a Hi Point Model CF 380 pistol with a defaced serial number and multiple magazines. Davis has multiple prior felony convictions from Macon County, Illinois, including failure to register as a sex offender, theft, and identity theft.

The statutory penalties for possession of a firearm by a felon are not more than 10 years in prison, not more than three years of supervised release, and not more than a $250,000 fine. The sentence imposed was within the advisory range calculated using the United States Sentencing Commission Sentencing Guidelines.

The Illinois State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Sarah E. Seberger represented the government in the prosecution.