BUNCOMBE MAN SENTENCED FOR RECEIPT OF A FIREARM BY AN UNLAWFUL USER OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on June 25, 2009, EDDIE J. KECK, age 23, of Buncombe, Illinois, was sentenced to 81months imprisonment in United States District Court in Benton, Illinois. KECK previously plead guilty on March 27, 2009, to a one count indictment charging him with Receipt of a Firearm by an Unlawful User of a Controlled Substance. KECK was charged with having possessed 10 different firearms which he took during the burglary of a residence in Union County, Illinois. According to the stipulation of facts entered into by the parties, KECK and two other individuals planned the burglary on August 4, 2008, while using marihuana. It is a federal felony for an unlawful user of a controlled substances to possess or use a firearm.

The investigation in this case was a cooperative effort between the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Fairview Heights Office, and the Union County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael C. Carr.