Attorney General Kwame Raoul today announced that a Cook County man was sentenced to prison for selling stolen firearms. The sentence is the result of charges the Attorney General’s office filed against two men following a joint investigation with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Chicago Field Division and local law enforcement agencies.
Reynaldo Gomez, 36, of Maywood, Illinois, was sentenced in DuPage County Circuit Court to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to a Class X felony count of the unlawful sale or delivery of firearms. Raoul charged Gomez and Jose Ibarra of Elmwood Park, Illinois with gunrunning in 2019. In 2021, Ibarra, 35, was sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to felony charges of gunrunning and the unlawful sale or delivery of a firearm.
“Between the investigation that prevented stolen guns from being used in additional violent crimes to the prosecution that ensures the defendants are held accountable for attempting to traffic those firearms, this case underscores the importance of collaborations between law enforcement,” Raoul said. “I appreciate the partnerships between my office and local and federal law enforcement, and I am committed to continuing to work with other law enforcement agencies to protect communities from violent crime.
Attorney General Raoul’s gunrunning case against Gomez and Ibarra was the result of an investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s office, the ATF, the DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement Group, and the Norridge and Bensenville police departments.
“Coordination and partnership such as this between law enforcement and prosecutors is an effective tool in combatting firearms trafficking,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Kristen de Tineo. “We will continue to focus on these investigations that impact the gun violence in our communities.”
The ATF initiated an investigation after discovering Gomez, who was on parole for an unrelated conviction, and Ibarra were allegedly selling stolen guns in DuPage and Cook counties. Raoul alleged that between Feb. 12 and Feb. 26, 2019, Ibarra and Gomez met with undercover agents at a Home Depot parking lot in DuPage County to arrange a firearm purchase. According to Raoul, the undercover agents purchased seven firearms, six of which the ATF recovered and traced back to residential burglaries in Cook County. Ibarra and Gomez were arrested in March 2019 and charged with gunrunning. After his arrest, Ibarra admitted that he and Gomez stole the firearms in January 2019 and sold them in February 2019.
Assistant Attorney General Andrew Whitfield handled prosecution of the case for Raoul’s Statewide Grand Jury Bureau.
