Man Sentenced to Nearly 5 Years in Prison for Illegally Possessing Loaded Gun in Rockford
ROCKFORD — A federal judge has sentenced a man to nearly five years in federal prison for illegally possessing a loaded firearm in Rockford.
U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber on Tuesday sentenced CEDRIC MARKS, 35, to four years and nine months in prison. Marks pleaded guilty last year to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.
Marks admitted in a plea agreement that on Sept. 4, 2019, he possessed a loaded handgun in Rockford. Marks was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over for speeding. He was asked to exit the vehicle after the officer detected an odor of marijuana. Marks reached for a backpack in the vehicle, ignoring the officer’s request to stop, and then defeated the officer’s attempt to handcuff him. Marks then ran, dropping the backpack. He was ultimately arrested with a firearm that was loaded with five rounds of .38-caliber ammunition. The backpack contained ammunition, cash, drugs, and drug paraphernalia.
Marks had previously been convicted of a felony and was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.
The sentence was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. The Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Ladd.
Holding illegal firearm possessors accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) – the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy. In the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses.
