A Rockford man, Renard Macklin, 36, has been sentenced by a federal judge to a term exceeding five years for illegally possessing firearms, reports from the Department of Justice reveal. After admitting to the charge earlier this year, Macklin, a convicted felon and hence forbidden by federal law to own firearms, was given a 70-month prison sentence with an additional three-year supervised release.

Following a plea agreement, Macklin confessed to having possessed firearms on two separate occasions. Driving while possessing a Ruger AR-15 style rifle, on Oct. 10, 2020, he tried to evade the Rockford Police and led them on a high-speed chase. According to the report by the DOJ, on March 16, 2021, Macklin again possessed a firearm - a stolen semi-automatic handgun - which was confiscated during a Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office search in Rockford.

The handing down of Macklin's sentence comes as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the Department of Justice's effort to reduce violent crime. Particularly in the Northern District of Illinois, the initiative aims to address firearm offenses aggressively. Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the district, spearheaded the announcement, supported by officials from the ATF, the Rockford Police Department, and the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Criminal Chief Jessica Maveus represented the government.

Officials from various law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Attorney’s Office and its partners, have joined forces within the PSN program to tackle the pressing issues of violent crime, and the case of Macklin serves as a testament to this endeavor.