Arkansas Man Gets 7 Years For Selling Guns On West Side, Suburbs

CHICAGO, IL — An Arkansas man was sentenced Wednesday to more than seven years for selling guns in the Chicago area, including Frankfort, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Klint Kelley's seven-year, three-month sentence was part of a deal with prosecutors for pleading guilty earlier this year to unlawfully engaging in the business of dealing firearms and selling firearms to a known felon.

According to the U.S. attorney's office, Kelley, 28, brought guns from his home state of Arkansas to Chicago and illegally sold them to a felon on three occasions in 2017. On July 3 of that year, he sold four handguns and a semi-automatic rifle to the individual for $3,000, federal authorities said.

Kelley also sold guns to the felon on April 3, 2017, in Frankfort and Sept. 3, 2017, in Chicago Ridge. In total, he sold 21 firearms to the individual, and several of those guns were capable of accepting large-capacity magazines, according to the U.S. attorney's office. At least three of those guns, however, have been reported stolen, including one that was taken from a police officer's home, the feds said.

"In a city that has seen shootings and homicides in astronomical numbers, illegal transportation of firearms and to a known convicted felon should not be tolerated," Assistant U.S. Attorney Tobara S. Richardson wrote in the sentencing memorandum. "Defendant knowingly engaged in criminal conduct that contributes to one of the worst aspects of the city."

Kelley had grown up in Illinois before moving to Arkansas several years ago, the U.S. attorney's office said.

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