CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A 39-year-old Chicago man accused of gun trafficking and supplying weapons to gang members has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.
David Santiago pleaded guilty last year to two counts of illegal possession of firearms and previously was convicted of multiple felonies that barred him from possessing a firearm, authorities said.
Santiago purportedly obtained firearms in Kansas and boasted to the Chicago buyers that the guns were “clean” and “brand new.” Among the buyers people Santiago knew were gang members, prosecutors said.
“Santiago was running an illegal gun store from his bedroom,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Storino said in a sentencing memorandum. “The over-proliferation of firearms in this city and the easy access of firearms in the hands of persons who should not have them has a direct correlation to the cyclical gun violence epidemic in Chicago.”
Law enforcement seized 16 firearms, including rifles and semi-automatic handguns, as well as more than 100 grams of heroin as part of the investigation, authorities said.
Santiago was sentenced last week.
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