ROBINSON MAN SENTENCED FOR VIOLATING FEDERAL FIREARMS LAW

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on April 27, 2009, ORLANDO ESCOBEDO, age 36, of Robinson, Illinois, was sentenced in United States District Court in East St. Louis, Illinois. ESCOBEDO, who had previously pled guilty to a one-count indictment charging him with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, was sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment, 3 years’ supervised release, and was fined $200.

The firearm offense took place on July 10, 2008, in Crawford County.

The investigation was conducted by the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, Robinson Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pursuant to those agencies’ participation in the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative. The goal of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative is to remove illegal guns and drugs from our communities. Under the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative, federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutors are working together to prosecute drug dealers, felons in possession of firearms, and criminals that use firearms to commit violent offenses or drug trafficking offenses in the system that will get them the most time.

The case was assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Amanda A. Robertson for prosecution.