CHICAGO — A “surge” of federal agents coming to Chicago has yielded its first criminal cases, according to U.S. prosecutors: charges against three suspects, including a Chicago man who allegedly had what amounts to a machine-gun.
The office of U.S. Attorney John Lausch announced Friday that three men were arrested this week. Two of them, 30-year-old Darryl Collins of Dolton, and Romeo Holloway, 21, of Chicago, were charged with illegal possession of ammunition and a firearm by a convicted felon, respectively.
The third person is identified as Darryl Phillips, a 22-year-old Chicago man. He is charged with one count of illegal possession of a machine-gun, prosecutors said.
The weapon in question is a European-made Glock handgun that was fitted with an “auto-sear device,” also known as a switch, that allows a shooter to fire multiple shots with one pull of the trigger, authorities said.
The gun was seized Wednesday as law enforcement officers executed a search warrant in the 2700 block of West Flournoy Street in East Garfield Park, prosecutors said. An ATF special agent inspected the weapon and determined it was modified to be fully automatic.
Phillips told authorities he bought the weapon, with the modification, about a month before for $1,200, according to an affidavit filed with the charges. He allegedly said the gun typically would jam after 20 shots.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the three arrests are part of the newly announced “Operation Legend,” a crackdown on violent crime in major American cities. President Trump announced a “surge” of federal officers to Chicago to offset a recent wave of shootings and gun-related deaths.
“Under Operation Legend, we are working closer than ever with the Chicago Police Department, ATF, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners,” Lausch said in a prepared statement.
Civilians can possess fully automated weapons made and registered before 1986, the ATF says.