Man Had Loaded Gun While Looting Downtown Store Last Summer: AG

CHICAGO — A 28-year-old Chicago man was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for carrying a firearm while being near the scene of looting downtown last summer, authorities said Friday.

According to prosecutors, Javonte T. Williams dropped a gun from the waistband of his pants while officers chased him from a storefront on Aug. 10 at the corner of State and Lake streets.

Due to a previous conviction pertaining to guns within Cook County, Williams was not allowed to have a firearm at all.

"The defendant’s decision to be out in downtown Chicago in the middle of utter chaos is no mystery given his past public bragging about the amount of looting he himself participated in over the summer of 2020," prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum.

According to the same memorandum, Williams posted "I'll be rite back out f--- 'em" to Facebook in response to a friend cautioning him against posting about his role in the looting.

Williams is the second person convicted on a federal gun charge related to the looting in downtown Chicago last summer. On Tuesday, Brandon Pegues, of Riverdale, was sentenced to a year in federal prison for having a handgun and a hammer on him during May 31 looting.