Illinois Drug User Unlawfully Possessed a Gun He Used to Shoot at a Club in Dubuque
An unlawful user of cocaine and marijuana who unlawfully possessed a loaded handgun he used to shoot at a club in Dubuque was sentenced today to more than two years in federal prison.
Ricardo Sanchez, age 33, from for Forest City, Illinois, received the prison term after a May 15, 2018, guilty plea to one count of possession of a firearm by an unlawful user of controlled substances.
Evidence at a prior detention hearing and information at the sentencing hearing showed that in the early morning hours of Nov. 27, 2017, Sanchez arrived at a club in downtown Dubuque. After entering the club, Sanchez got into an argument with the club owner. He then left the club and returned to his van. Sanchez is then seen on traffic camera video retrieving something from the van. Sanchez returned to outside the club and fired a handgun towards the building multiple times, destroying the front window of the club. There were four people inside the club at the time. Police later recovered nine spent 9mm shell casings from the area of the shooting. After firing the handgun, Sanchez returned to his car and drove from Dubuque into Wisconsin and eventually Illinois. He was arrested later on November 27 in Galena, Illinois. Police recovered the 9mm pistol from along the road outside of Galena.
Sanchez was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge Linda R. Reade. Sanchez was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Sanchez is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Anthony Morfitt and investigated by the Dubuque Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, the Galena Police Department, and the Jo Daviess County Sheriff’s Office.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that has been historically successful in bringing together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has made turning the tide of rising violent crime in America a top priority. In October 2017, as part of a series of actions to address this crime trend, Attorney General Sessions announced the reinvigoration of PSN and directed all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop a district crime reduction strategy that incorporates the lessons learned since PSN launched in 2001.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 18-CR-1003.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
