CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Federal authorities have lowered the boom on a 27-year-old felony gun offender who got probation nearly a decade ago after he allegedly was looting in downtown Chicago earlier this month.
Chicago police say Javonte Williams was observed exiting a business early on Aug. 10 with merchandise in his hands. As police officers chased and arrested him, a loaded semiautomatic handgun fell from his person, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago said Friday.
This triggered a federal charge, prosecutors said, because Williams was convicted of a felony firearm offense in state court in Cook County.
Williams, a Chicago resident, pleaded guilty in 2012 to possessing a firearm with a defaced serial number and was sentenced then to two years’ probation, according to an affidavit from an ATF agent.
The gun Williams allegedly had on him Aug. 10 was transported across state lines, the affidavit said. The business he was seen exiting that morning was CBD Kratom, 28 E. Randolph St., the document said.
Williams faces one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He is in federal custody and won’t appear at a detention hearing until Sept. 1, prosecutors said.
It’s the latest case stemming from “Operation Legend,” in which federal prosecutors and agents assist local authorities deal with violent crime. Federal charges and penalties are considered stricter than those meted out in state court.