An Ohio man will go to prison for the straw purchase of a rifle that police found in 2016 in an Elgin storage locker while they served a search warrant.

Favio Velazquez

Forty-year-old Favio Velazquez on Sept. 13, 2019, agreed to a sentence of three years’ imprisonment in the Illinois Department of Corrections in exchange for a guilty plea to the offense of unlawful purchase of a firearm, Class 2 felony. He faced a sentence of probation or up to seven years in prison.

Kane County Associate Judge David P. Kliment accepted the plea.

Kane County Assistant State’s Attorney William Engerman stated in court that on Oct. 18, 2013, Velazquez purchased a Barrett .50-caliber rifle from 1st Class Firearms in Zion, IL. At the time of the purchase, Velazquez filled out a federal firearms transactions record affirming that he was the actual buyer of the gun.

On Aug. 12, 2016, the Elgin Police Department, along with Homeland Security Investigations, and the Kane County Sheriff’s Office served a search warrant at a storage facility in the 600 block of Big Timber Road, Elgin. Inside the unit, authorities found multiple weapons, including the Barrett .50-caliber rifle and other automatic weapons.

Velazquez had no connection to the storage unit, which had been rented by Juan Mexicano of Addison.

A Kane County judge in January 2019 sentenced Mexicano to seven years’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to nine felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon for illegally possessing the guns, along with the ammunition, in the storage locker.

Two other persons, Dana J. Prouty and Ira A. Burdine, were convicted in Lake County court for offenses related to the weapon sale to Velazquez.

In accordance with Illinois law, Velazquez is eligible for day-for-day sentencing. He receives credit for one day served in the Kane County jail. He had been free on $20,000 bond.

The Chicago Police Department, the Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Will County Sheriff’s Office, the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office, the New Lenox Police Department, Addison Police Department, Olympia Fields Police Department, Hoffman Estates Police Department and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement – Enforcement Removal Operations also assisted in the overall investigation.

Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said the conviction and prison sentence of Velazquez for his straw purchase of the rifle is a victory against violent criminals who participate in the deadly and illegal firearms trade.

“Thanks to all of the agencies who worked to take these weapons off the streets, preventing them from being used to commit acts of violence and perhaps to help smuggle illegal drugs into the United States,” he said.

Special Agent in Charge of HSI Chicago James M. Gibbons said the joint investigation demonstrates that crime-fighting organizations can work together effectively.

“Law enforcement can combat emerging and existing transnational criminal organizations by employing the full range of federal, state and local law enforcement authorities and resources in the fight to identify, investigate, disrupt and dismantle these organizations at every level of operation,” he said.