Chicago man will spend over a decade in prison for trafficking drugs, possessing gun in Old Town

CHICAGO - A Chicago man will spend over a decade in federal prison for possessing a loaded handgun while trafficking drugs in Old Town.

Thomas L. Gates, 43, pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal drug and firearm charges. 

According to prosecutors, Gates illegally possessed a gun and drugs on the evening of Nov. 16, 2021, in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.

Chicago police officers detained Gates in the 1500 block of North Sedgwick Avenue after observing him display the firearm to another person.

The officers then discovered about 45 small, packaged baggies of fentanyl and cocaine in Gates' jacket pocket.

Before this arrest, Gates had been previously convicted of multiple felonies and was not lawfully allowed to possess a firearm.

"Possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking are extremely serious offenses," Assistant U.S. Attorney Beth E. Palmer argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  "Defendant posed a severe threat to the community, which is already plagued by gun violence, when he carried a loaded semi-automatic weapon on a public street to protect his drug distributions."

A judge handed down his sentence of 11 years after a hearing in federal court Tuesday.