Madison, Wis. - John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Darius Kilgore, 23, Beloit, Wis., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Barbara B. Crabb to 14 months in prison for illegally obtaining a firearm in Mississippi and transporting it to Wisconsin. Kilgore pleaded guilty to this charge on May 11, 2011.

The government established that Kilgore traveled to Mississippi in January 2009 and arranged for another person to purchase a handgun on Kilgore's behalf. Kilgore brought the gun back to Wisconsin and was arrested on July 5, 2009, when law enforcement officers in Beloit responded to a complaint of a person firing a handgun from a vehicle. A search of Kilgore's vehicle revealed two handguns, crack cocaine and marijuana. One of the handguns recovered was among those illegally obtained by Kilgore in Mississippi.

In sentencing Kilgore, Judge Crabb noted that obtaining the gun illegally was a bad decision and a mistake, but that Kilgore's subsequent firing of that gun from the car was stupid and dangerous and showed a real lack of concern for the safety of others.

The charges against Kilgore were the result of an investigation conducted by the Beloit Police Department and the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy M. O'Shea.

 

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