Man Who Illegally Possessed Handgun on Evanston Street Sentenced to Nearly 8 Years in Federal Prison

CHICAGO — A man who illegally possessed a semi-automatic handgun in Evanston, Ill., and tried to flee from police has been sentenced to nearly eight years in federal prison.

DARIUS MORALES illegally possessed the firearm on May 8, 2019.  Evanston Police responded to gun shots fired in an alley and saw a silver Jeep Commander pull out and speed away.  The Jeep led police on a high-speed chase through downtown Evanston until it crashed into a fence in the backyard of a residence.  Morales, who was a passenger in the Jeep, left the gun on the fence and tried to run off.  He was arrested a few blocks away.

A federal jury last year convicted Morales, 32, of Evanston, of illegally possessing the firearm.  Morales had previously been convicted of multiple felonies and was prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm.

Judge Amy J. St. Eve of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, sitting by designation in U.S. District Court in Chicago, on Friday imposed a 94-month prison sentence.  Judge St. Eve found that Morales was the individual who fired the gun in the alley.

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Robert J. Bell, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.  Substantial assistance was provided by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Evanston Police Department; and Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.  The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeannice Appenteng and Charles W. Mulaney.