A Peoria, Illinois, man, Corey A. Brooks, 29, of the 2500 block of West Starr Street, pleaded guilty on March 2, 2022, to burglary of a federal firearm licensee and possession of a firearm as a felon. Sentencing has been scheduled for June 29, 2022, at the federal courthouse in Peoria, Illinois.
In court today, before U.S. District Judge Joe Billy McDade, Brooks admitted that early in the morning of July 7, 2021, he shattered a window at a federal firearms licensee known as Pinnacle Gun and Ammo, located in the 700 block of Main Street in Peoria. Brooks then climbed into the business through the window and removed two shotguns and 20 handguns, which were loaded into a backpack. Surveillance footage and blood drops left behind by Brooks enabled the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Peoria Police to identify Brooks and locate the two shotguns. A photograph was released, and Brooks was identified and arrested the same day.
Brooks remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending sentencing.
For the offenses of burglary of a federal firearm licensee and possession of a firearm as a felon, the statutory penalty is up to 10 years imprisonment for each count; a term of up to three years of supervised release for each count; and a fine of up to $250,000. If Brooks is determined to be a career offender, the terms of imprisonment could increase.
The charges were investigated by the Peoria Police Department and ATF. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald L. Hanna is representing the government in the prosecution.
The case was brought as part of The Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. The Department’s renewed commitment to Project Safe Neighborhoods establishes four fundamental principles to guide efforts to reduce violent crime: 1) build trust and legitimacy within communities; 2) invest in community-based prevention and intervention programs; 3) target enforcement and priorities to focus resources on identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the most significant drivers of gun violence and other violent crime; and, 4) measure results with the goal to reduce the level of violence in our communities and not to increase the number of arrests and prosecutions as if they were ends in themselves.
