A Rockford man has been sentenced to eight years in prison for the illegal possession of a firearm. Charles Jackson, 26, entered a guilty plea earlier this year to the charge of illegal firearm possession by a previously convicted felon. U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston delivered the sentence during a federal court hearing in Rockford.
Jackson's plea agreement revealed that in May 2022, he held a modified handgun loaded with 25 rounds of ammunition, including one in the chamber, while fleeing from the Rockford Police Department. As a felon, Jackson was prohibited from possessing a firearm under federal law.
"The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives," according to the official statement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodora Anderson represented the government in this case.
"Keeping illegal firearm possessors accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN)," the statement continued. "In the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses."
