An Elgin man's shady gun deals have earned him a one-way ticket to the big house. According to an announcement from Attorney General Kwame Raoul, 28-year-old Tommy Murphy was hit with a six-year prison stretch for orchestrating a straw purchasing scheme—a felony offense. The conviction came down today by DuPage County Circuit Judge Michael Reidy, ending Murphy's run of peddling firearms to those who couldn't legally hold 'em.
Working in cahoots with a co-conspirator, 26-year-old Kimani Mobley of Chicago, Murphy was busted by undercover agents acting as illegal gun buyers. They met Murphy, who was arranged to appear in the parking lot of a DuPage County gun store over a two-day gun-buy frenzy back in May 2019, according to a statement by the Illinois Attorney General's Office. The agents handed over cash, including profit, that Murphy slid over to Mobley—the FOID cardholder—directing him to purchase a firearm for Murphy in his name.
Mobley, who made it appear like he was buying for himself at the time, filled out the necessary gun purchase paperwork and passed a background check. He chose two firearms, claiming they were for personal use. However, the Illinois State Police ultimately denied the transaction due to a pending court issue for Mobley. He then requested a refund from the store after a background check delay, detailed by the Attorney General's Office.
Later in May, Murphy continues to wheel and deal, selling a .45 caliber handgun and a handful of Xanax to another undercover agent in Kane County for a cool $1,600. The law caught up with Murphy, and Mobley in November 2020, with arrest warrants flapping in the wind. Mobley turned himself in the following month, while Murphy took a scenic route, getting nabbed in Arizona and extradited back to Illinois in February 2021.
While Murphy is now contemplating his life choices behind bars, his partner-in-crime, Mobley, skated away with a 30-month probation after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit the unlawful purchase of firearms. This case was cracked open with the help of local, state, and federal agents, a fact emphasized by Attorney General Raoul in asserting the importance of such partnerships to combat gun violence in communities.
The Assistant Attorney General Andrew Whitfield led the prosecution for Raoul's Statewide Grand Jury Bureau. For Murphy, it’s the end of the line—for now. For authorities, it's a small victory in the ongoing battle to keep illegal firearms off the streets and out of the wrong hands.
