Man Sentenced to More Than 8 Years in Prison for Illegal Firearm Possession and Attempted Murder

CHICAGO — A man has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm and using it to shoot at individuals on Christmas morning in 2019.

Shortly after 11:15 a.m. on Dec. 25, 2019, RASHID JACKSON fired three shots from a semiautomatic handgun at individuals in the middle of a residential street in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood.  CPD officers patrolling the area after the shooting arrested Jackson approximately half a block from the shooting scene.

Jackson, 27, of Chicago, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a charge of illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  Jackson had previously been convicted of multiple felony offenses in state court and was prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm.  U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall on Monday imposed a 100-month prison sentence after finding that Jackson’s actions in the Christmas shooting constituted attempted second-degree murder.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John S. Morales, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and David Brown, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cornelius A. Vandenberg.