Lyons Township Man Trafficked Guns: Officials

La Grange IL

07 October, 2021

1:39 PM

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LYONS, IL — A Lyons man has been sentenced to federal prison in connection with trafficking guns from Kentucky to Chicago, prosecutors said Thursday. John Phillips, 26, schemed with others to buy rifles and semiautomatic handguns from private sellers in Kentucky and resell them in the Chicago area, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Many of the guns were sold to convicted felons whom Phillips knew could not legally buy or possess guns, authorities said. Phillips was sentenced to 8½ years in prison on a charge of unlawfully dealing firearms in interstate commerce. "The breadth and extent of defendant's firearms trafficking operation is staggering," federal prosecutors argued in the government's sentencing memorandum. "As a result of defendant and his co-conspirators illegally selling guns, violence ensued, involving real victims and disrupting community safety." Two others were charged and have pleaded guilty to federal firearm charges as part of the investigation, authorities said. Christopher Henderson, 26, of Louisville, Kentucky, was sentenced in 2019 to 5½ years in federal prison. Jaiqail Wright, 27, of Chicago, is set to be sentenced Thursday.