Dozens Of Felony Counts For NW Side Man In Facebook Groups Probe

CHICAGO, IL — A 23-year-old Northwest Side man turned himself in to Chicago police Tuesday and faces more than three dozen felony counts in connection with the department's ongoing investigation into gun and drug sales done through secret Facebook groups. Sergio Barrera, of the 3700 block of North Octavia Avenue in the Belmont Heights neighborhood, was arrested and charged with the following: seven counts of armed violence with a category II weapon, a count of gunrunning, eight counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, eight counts of unlawful sale of firearms, five counts of possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number and nine counts of delivery of a controlled substance, police said in a statement Wednesday.

Barrera is accused of using secret Facebook groups in order to connect with potential gun and drug buyers, according to police. Officers recorded multiple controlled buys from Barrera at different location as part of the ongoing investigation known as Operation Fishnet 4, police said.

So far, more than 50 people have been arrested, including a Chicago Public School teacher, in the investigation. Police were tipped to the secret online groups by an informant last February, and over ten months, officers bought more than 17 different illegal drugs worth more than $46,000 on the street, as well as 18 illegal guns, many fully loaded and with the serial numbers scratched off.

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Barrera turned himself in at around 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 2, at the 16th District police station in Jefferson Park, police said. His bail hearing is set for Wednesday.

Sergio Barrera, 23, and the guns Chicago police seized from him after he turned himself in Tuesday, Jan. 2. (Photos via the Chicago Police Department)