Bellwood man convicted on federal gun and drug charges
BELLWOOD, Ill. - A 42-year-old man was convicted by a federal jury for illegally possessing two loaded handguns and dealing heroin and crack cocaine.
Brian Stafford, of Bellwood, sold 101 grams of heroin to an informant for law enforcement in November 2016, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
A day earlier, police also found drugs and guns in his vehicle and residence in the west suburb.
He was found guilty of one count of possessing heroin and crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, one count of illegal possession of firearms by a previously convicted felon, and one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of drug-trafficking activities.
In 2019, Stafford was convicted by a separate jury of illegally possessing three assault rifles linked to thefts from a cargo train that passed through Chicago in 2016.
Stafford could be sentenced to a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison per conviction and a maximum of life.