A Chicago man is facing four and a half years behind bars after pleading guilty to a federal firearm charge. Brandon Johnson was caught in possession of a loaded handgun while in a residence teeming with children, on the city's Near West Side on January 25, 2020.
The situation escalated to Johnson’s arrest after police responded to a call about him threatening to shoot someone with the weapon. In a detail that worsens the edges of this crime, Johnson's history of felonies prohibited him from owning a gun, and yet, there he was, ensnared with a deadly tool among minors—defenseless in both law and life.
U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey didn't hold back on August 13, sentencing Johnson to 55 months of imprisonment. According to a Justice Department release, the defendant has been in custody since December 2020, a period which counts toward his sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Prashant Kolluri chimed in on the severity of the issue, saying, "The City of Chicago has been plagued by gun violence for many years." Referring to Johnson's conviction, he went on, "The possession of a loaded firearm is a significant contributor to that gun violence." It's a concern echoed across the city’s state attorney offices, as Chicago grapples with gun-related crimes much too often.
The announcement about Johnson's fate was made by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and ATF Special Agent-in-Charge Christopher C. Amon, quoting praise toward the collaborative effort from the Chicago Police Department.
