Rockford Man Sentenced to Nine Years in Federal Prison for Firearms Offenses

ROCKFORD — A Rockford man was sentenced yesterday to nine years in federal prison for possessing a firearm with an obliterated serial number and selling firearms without a license

ANGEL BARRERA-ESTEVES, 27, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of possessing a firearm with the serial number removed and one count of selling firearms without a federal firearms dealer’s license.  On Monday, U.S. District Judge Iain D. Johnston sentenced Barrera-Esteves to 108 months in prison.

Barrera-Esteves admitted that in 2022, he illegally possessed a semi-automatic handgun that he defaced and later sold.  Barrera-Esteves further admitted that between 2021 and 2022, he sold seven firearms, manufactured or obtained by him, without a federal firearms dealer’s license. Several of those firearms were obtained illegally through his mother, JESSICA BARRERA, who purchased the firearms and transferred them to Barrera-Esteves. Once received, Barrera-Esteves removed the serial numbers and sold the firearms to people he knew could not possess firearms or would use the firearms for illegal purposes. Barrera-Esteves also sold ammunition that he illegally obtained through his mother,  as well as a Glock auto-sear. 

Jessica Barrera, 56, of Rockford, was sentenced last month to nearly three years in federal prison for her involvement.

Barrera-Esteves’s sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of ATF’s Chicago Field Division.  The Rockford Police Department assisted in the investigation. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vincenza L. Tomlinson.

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 tackle a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses.