Roommates Charged in Federal Court With Trafficking Cocaine and Illegally Possessing Handguns in Downtown Oak Park Apartment

CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has indicted two roommates for allegedly trafficking cocaine and illegally possessing handguns in their apartment in downtown Oak Park.

An indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges ISAIAH INGRAM, 30, and KEVIN HAGER, 34, with drug conspiracy and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.  The pair is also charged with illegally possessing firearms as previously convicted felons.

Law enforcement in February searched the defendants’ apartment in downtown Oak Park and discovered distribution quantities of cocaine and crack cocaine, as well as five semiautomatic handguns, all of which were loaded.  The search also revealed a money-counting machine, electronic scales, and a cooking pot and utensils with white residue on them.

Ingram is detained in federal custody without bond.  His arraignment is scheduled for May 12, 2020, at 9:30 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr.  Hager is currently at large, and a warrant for his arrest has been issued.

The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI; and David Brown, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  The Oak Park Police Department provided valuable assistance.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth R. Pozolo and Tiffany Ardam.

Holding gun offenders accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Guardian and Project Safe Neighborhoods – the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategies.  Project Guardian focuses specifically on investigating, prosecuting, and preventing gun crimes, and it emphasizes the importance of using modern technologies to promote gun crime intelligence.  In the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Attorney Lausch and law enforcement partners have deployed the Guardian and PSN programs to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, including by prosecuting individuals who illegally possess firearms.

The counts for drug conspiracy and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence are each punishable by up to life imprisonment, while illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon carries a maximum sentence of ten years.  If convicted, the Court must impose reasonable sentences under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.