East St. Louis Woman Pleads Guilty To Firearm Charges

James L. Porter, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that Delenthegia "Del" Beard-Hawkins, 54, of East St. Louis, Illinois, pleaded guilty today to a Superseding Indictment which charges her and David L. Bradford in Count 3 with Transfer of a Firearm to a Previously Convicted Felon, and which charges her, alone, in Count 4 with Unlawful User in Possession of a Firearm. The remaining charges name David L. Bradford alone. Bradford is also of East St. Louis and formerly of Madison, Illinois.

As to Bradford, Please Note - An indictment is a formal charge against a defendant. Under the law, that charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty of all charges until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of a jury.

The maximum penalty for each of Counts 3 and 4 is up to 10 years in federal, a $250,000 fine, 3 years’ supervised release and a $100 special assessment.

According to court documents, with respect to Count 3, on February 22, 2014, Beard-Hawkins purchased a Romarm Cugir Draco, 7.62 x 39 mm caliber semiautomatic pistol in Missouri and traveled with it to East St. Louis, Illinois, where she left it with Bradford knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that Bradford was a convicted felon. With respect to Count 4, on March 4, 2014, Beard-Hawkins was arrested in possession of a Magnum Research Desert Eagle, .50 caliber semiautomatic pistol and an amount of marihuana. Beard-Hawkins is an illegal user of marihuana and had been illegally using marihuana on a regular basis for several months prior to her arrest on March 4, 2014.

Bradford’s trial on the Superseding Indictment is scheduled for April 2016.

Information leading to the charges against Beard-Hawkins and Bradford was obtained in an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. The case is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Kit Morrissey.