Man Sentenced to More than Ten Years in Prison for Illegally Possessing Firearms and Violating Supervised Release Terms

ROCKFORD — A man has been sentenced to more than ten years in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm in Rockford and violating the terms of his court-supervised release.

STEVEN BAXTER, 40, of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of illegal firearm possession and violating the terms of supervised release. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston sentenced Baxter to 104 months in federal prison on the firearms charge, and an additional 22 months for violating his supervised release, for a total sentence of 126 months in prison.

Baxter admitted in a plea declaration that while visiting Rockford in 2022 he entered a local Wing Stop restaurant while in possession of a handgun. Baxter became agitated about his order and threatened multiple store employees. He displayed the gun and held it at his hip before exiting the restaurant. During a later traffic stop, Baxter admitted to driving a vehicle on Interstate 90 in Kane County, Ill., while in possession of a loaded firearm and an additional pistol. As a previously convicted felon, Baxter was prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms.

At the time of his arrest, Baxter was serving a term of supervised release following his imprisonment for an unrelated federal firearms conviction, the terms of which prohibited him from committing additional federal, state, or local crimes. Baxter’s illegal possession of the firearms violated the terms of the court supervision.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Christopher C. Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. The Rockford Police Department and the Kane County Sheriff’s Department assisted in the investigation.

“It is highly concerning to the government that defendant has shown a pattern of not only illegal possession of firearms as a felon, but a pattern of brandishing and threatening people with firearms in moments of anger or rage,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodora A. Anderson argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “Defendant’s history shows a disrespect for the law, for the safety of the community, and a disregard for court orders.”