Federal Indictment Charges Man With Illegally Possessing Loaded Gun in Chicago

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has charged a man with illegally possessing a loaded handgun in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood last month.

The indictment returned Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges RAPHAEL HAMMOND, 37, of Chicago, with illegal possession of a firearm.  The indictment alleges that Hammond illegally possessed the loaded .380-caliber handgun on May 5, 2024.  Shortly after 1:00 a.m., Hammond fired the gun several times while standing on a sidewalk in the 1000 block of West Addison Street in Chicago, according to a criminal complaint previously filed in the case.  At the time of the shooting, Hammond was on court-supervised release from a prior federal firearm conviction that prohibited him from legally possessing a firearm.

The charge in the indictment is punishable by a maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.  Arraignment is set for June 18, 2024, at 11:00 a.m., before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Sean Fitzgerald, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of Homeland Security Investigations, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Saqib M. Hussain.

The investigation was conducted in coordination with ATF’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Chicago.  The CGIC is a centralized law enforcement hub that focuses exclusively on investigating and preventing gun violence in Chicago and throughout northern Illinois.  The CGIC is an interagency collaboration that brings together - under one roof - federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and intelligence analysts to move quickly to investigate and prosecute violent crimes.

Holding firearm offenders accountable through federal prosecution is the centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative that brings together law enforcement officials, prosecutors, community leaders, and other stakeholders to develop comprehensive solutions to the most pressing violent crime problems.  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.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.