Kankakee Area Felon Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Weapons Charge

Urbana, Ill. - Ladonta A. Tucker, 24, of the 200 block of North Greenwood Ave., Kankakee, Ill., has been ordered to serve 84 months in federal prison for illegal possession of a firearm by a felon, as announced by U.S. Attorney Jim Lewis, Central District of Illinois. Tucker was sentenced on Sept. 12.  He has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in December 2015.  On April 28, 2016, Tucker entered a plea of guilty to the charge.

According to court documents, around 10:00 p.m. on Dec. 1, 2015, officers with the Bradley Police Department found Tucker and three other individuals in a car with its engine running on Blain Ave., in Bradley, Ill.  After smelling the strong odor of marijuana coming from the car, officers searched the car and found in the trunk a fully loaded Taurus, Titanium, .45 caliber five-shot Colt revolver and a loaded Hi-Point, Model JCP, .40 caliber S&W semi-automatic pistol. The revolver had previously been reported stolen and its serial numbers had been obliterated. During a search of Tucker, officers found a baggie containing marijuana, cash, and a black digital scale. Tucker admitted the guns were his and he bought them off the street. At the time of the offense, Tucker had prior felony convictions for aggravated criminal sexual abuse and possession of a controlled substance, both in Kankakee County.

The case is the result of ongoing investigations related to gun violence in the Kankakee area by the Kankakee Area Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Kankakee Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eugene L. Miller.