Man sentenced to 15 years for role in Missouri-to-Chicago gun pipeline

CHICAGO - A man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for his involvement in a pipeline that brought guns from Missouri to Chicago.

U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow, Jr. handed down the sentence Friday for 47-year-old Derrick Claiborne, who trafficked fentanyl-laced heroin and illegally possessed three handguns in 2018.

Claiborne was one of four people convicted as part of an investigation led by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The investigation revealed Claiborne purchased three guns from James Saunders after they had been transported from Missouri to Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood.

Saunders also sold several guns to confidential informants. He pleaded guilty to federal gun charges and was sentenced to five years in prison in 2019.

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Jumonta Moore, 25, and Marcus Ingram, 30, the two Missouri residents who trafficked the guns into Chicago, were also each sentenced to three years in federal prison.

Guns that Derrick Claiborne bought from James Saunders | U.S. Attorney's Office