Firearms Trafficker From Chicago Suburb Sentenced to Four Years in Federal Prison

CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for assisting in the illegal sales of two firearms.

JEFFREY GREER, 57, of North Aurora, Ill., assisted a relative in selling a shotgun and a revolver to an individual in the fall of 2019.  Unbeknownst to Greer, the buyer was cooperating with law enforcement.  Greer helped negotiate the terms of the deal during a meeting in his relative’s home in North Aurora, Ill., and then transported the guns to the cooperating individual’s truck.

Greer pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal charge of dealing firearms without a license.  U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis imposed the sentence after a hearing July 13, 2023, in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.  The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Addison, Ill., Police Department provided valuable assistance.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Mott.

Disrupting illegal firearms trafficking is a centerpiece of the Chicago Firearms Trafficking Strike Force, the Department of Justice’s cross-jurisdictional strike force aimed at reducing gun violence.  As part of the Chicago Strike Force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office collaborates with FBI, ATF, and other federal, state, and local law enforcement partners in the Northern District of Illinois and across the country to help stem the supply of illegally trafficked firearms and identify patterns, leads, and potential suspects in violent gun crimes.

Holding illegal firearm dealers accountable through federal prosecution is also a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy.  In the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses.