Indiana man sentenced for possessing machine gun as a convicted felon
Lorenzo Garcia
KANE COUNTY, Ill. - An Indiana man has been sentenced for possessing a loaded firearm in Kane County earlier this year.
Lorenzo J. Garcia, 33, of East Chicago, was found guilty in July of being an armed habitual criminal, unlawful use of a weapon (machine gun), unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, unlawful possession of firearm ammunition by a felon, aggravated unlawful use of a weapon and possession of a firearm without a Firearm Owners Identification.
At about 3:30 p.m. on March 26, Garcia was the front seat passenger of a black Ford F-150 pickup truck that was traveling east on Interstate 90 through Kane County.
An Illinois State Police trooper saw the truck commit a traffic violation and conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle.
While speaking with the occupants of the truck, the trooper saw evidence of the presence of drugs in the vehicle. The trooper then told the occupants he would be searching the vehicle.
Garcia became visibly nervous and refused to get out of the truck, so troopers removed him from it.
The troopers found a loaded Glock handgun equipped with a device that converts the handgun to be fully automatic.
Additionally, three loaded ammunition magazines were found in the truck's glove compartment in front of where Garcia had been sitting. It was later determined that Garcia's fingerprint was on the gun.
A judge sentenced Garcia to 12 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. He must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence and will receive credit for 184 days served in the Kane County Jail.