Two Peoria Men Sentenced to Federal Prison for Firearm Charges

PEORIA, Ill. – Two Peoria, Illinois, men, Isaiah L. Holland, 29, and Tyrone Anthony Curtis, 23, were sentenced on February 14, 2025, to multiple years of imprisonment following their convictions for federal robbery and firearm offenses.

Holland previously pleaded guilty to committing a robbery involving United States currency and using a firearm during a crime of violence, while Curtis pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a felon.

U.S. District Judge Jonathan E. Hawley sentenced Holland to 12 months’ imprisonment for the robbery and 84 months’ imprisonment for the firearms offense. The judge ordered that the sentences are to be served consecutively for a total of 96 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. The judge sentenced Curtis to 33 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

At the sentencing hearings in front of Judge Hawley at the federal courthouse in Peoria, the government presented evidence that Holland robbed another individual at gunpoint during an arranged sale of handguns and two machinegun conversion devices (also known as switches). Curtis set up the sale. During the transaction, Holland pulled a firearm from his backpack, racked the firearm, and robbed the would-be buyer of the $4,100 that was intended as payment for the weapons, in addition to taking that person’s wallet and car keys.

Holland and Curtis were later stopped by law enforcement. During the stop, law enforcement agents discovered a Glock Model 19, 9mm pistol, loaded with 18 rounds of ammunition in the magazine and one in the chamber, in Holland’s backpack. They also found a loaded Canik, Model TP9SA, 9 mm pistol under Curtis’s seat. Both weapons are being forfeited to the government.

A complaint was filed in federal court in January 2024 against both defendants, followed by an indictment in February 2024. Both defendants have been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since their arrests.

The statutory maximum penalties for a robbery involving United States currency are not more than 25 years’ imprisonment and $250,000 fine. Use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence carries a sentence of seven years to life imprisonment, to be served consecutively to the sentence for the violent crime. A term of supervised release of up to five years may be imposed on each of those counts. The penalties for possessing a firearm as a felon are not more than 15 years’ imprisonment, to be followed by up to three years of supervised release.

The Peoria Area Federal Firearms Task Force, comprised of agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Peoria Police Department; the Peoria County Sheriff’s Department; the Illinois Department of Corrections; and the Illinois State Police investigated the case.

The case against Holland and Curtis is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.