ROCKFORD —(ENEWSPF)–September 30, 2015. A Rockford resident was convicted yesterday after a two-day jury trial on a federal gun charge. The defendant, MARTEZ DICKSON, 29, was found guilty by a federal jury following a trial before U.S. District Judge Philip G. Reinhard for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
According to the indictment and evidence at trial, on May 31, 2014, Rockford Police Officers were called to the McDonald’s on 11th Street after Dickson was discovered asleep in the driver’s seat of a car parked in the drive-thru lane. When officers arrived on the scene, Dickson was found in possession of a loaded 9 mm handgun. Dickson previously had been convicted of a felony. As a result, he was prohibited from possessing a firearm.
Dickson was originally charged in state court and was transferred to federal court where he was charged under tough federal firearms laws as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an intensive, cooperative effort between local, state, and federal law enforcement to attack gun crimes. The cornerstone of the program is that every defendant committing an offense involving a gun will be reviewed for possible federal prosecution in order to obtain the harshest penalties for the worst offenders. Additional information about Project Safe Neighborhoods may be found at: www.psn.gov.
Dickson faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. The actual sentence will be determined by the United States District Court, guided by the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines. Dickson’s sentencing is set for December 28, 2015, at 9:00 a.m.
The conviction was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Jeffery Magee, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; Joseph Bruscato, Winnebago County State’s Attorney; and Chet Epperson, Rockford Police Chief. The government is represented by Assistants U.S. Attorney Talia Bucci and Margaret J. Schneider.
Source: www.justice.gov
