Rockford Man Sentenced to More than Six Years in Prison for Illegally Possessing Firearm

ROCKFORD — A Rockford man has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for illegally possessing a firearm.

WESLEY SMITH, 37, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston sentenced Smith to 77 months in prison.

Smith admitted in a plea agreement that on May 2, 2024, he possessed a loaded firearm in a residence in Rockford.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and Gary Caruana, Winnebago County Sheriff. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Kim.

Holding illegal firearm possessors accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). 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.