Convicted Felon Charged with Illegally Possessing Loaded Handgun in Old Town Neighborhood of Chicago

CHICAGO — A convicted felon has been charged with a federal firearm violation for allegedly illegally possessing a loaded semiautomatic handgun in the Old Town neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side.

GASTON TUCKER, 32, of Chicago, is charged with one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  Tucker illegally possessed the gun on Feb. 17, 2019, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  On July 9, 2019, U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez ordered Tucker detained in federal custody without bond.

The complaint and detention order were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Eddie Johnson, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.

Holding convicted felons accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods – the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy.  In the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Attorney Lausch and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, including by prosecuting individuals who illegally possess firearms.

According to the complaint, Tucker was a backseat passenger in a sedan that was parked in front of a fire hydrant in the 1300 block of North Sedgwick Street in Chicago.  A Chicago Police officer approached the vehicle and obtained identification from the vehicle’s occupants.  As the officer walked back to her car to review the identifications, Tucker got out and ran down the street, the complaint states.

As officers began searching the area, security guards from a nearby housing complex reported seeing a man run through the complex and drop an object underneath a dumpster, the complaint states.  Officers later searched underneath the dumpster and recovered the handgun, according to the complaint.

Tucker was previously convicted in state court of aggravated battery with a firearm, a felony for which he was on parole at the time of the alleged federal offense.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is punishable by up to ten years in prison.  If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.