Chicago convicted felon sentenced to 11 years in prison for gun possession charges

Ramone Shaffers, a convicted felon from Chicago, has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. He was proven guilty in court for illegally possessing a loaded gun. He was also facing the charges of offering money to witnesses to lie on his behalf. As a convicted felon, he was not allowed to possess a gun.

According to the court documents, Shaffers illegally possessed a handgun and an extended magazine on October 16, 2016. The law enforcement found him with a loaded gun in the Woodlawn neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago when he was sitting in a parked car. The court documents revealed that he had three other passengers in the car when he was found with a handgun.

The law enforcement officials took him into custody. He directly individuals to offer money to witnesses in exchange for false testimony in his favor. In December 2019, a federal jury convicted him for illegally possessing a handgun and obstructing justice. John J. Tharp, Jr., a US District Judge, sentenced him to 11 years in prison on Tuesday.

John R. Lausch, Jr., the US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, David Brown, the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department, and Kristen deTineo, the special agent-in-charge of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Chicago Field Division, announced the sentence. Albert Berry III and Kavitha J. Babu, the assistant US attorneys, represented the government in this case.

The US Department of Justice is committed to holding convicted felons accountable by using some firm strategies including the Project Safe Neighborhood (PSP), and the Project Guardian. These are the core programs of the justice department to reduce violent crimes in the Northern District of Illinois. Berry and Babu argued on behalf of the government that the defendant was involved in a serious crime and he attempted to obstruct justice.