Champaign, Illinois, Man Sentenced to 72 months in Prison for Possession of a Firearm as a Felon

URBANA, Ill. – A Champaign, Illinois, man, Prentiss Jackson, 40, of the 3300 block of Stoneway Court, was sentenced on April 10, 2023, to 72 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release, for possessing a firearm as a felon.

At the sentencing hearing, the government presented evidence that Jackson, a felon on supervised release for a 2010 federal narcotics conviction, possessed a Ruger handgun. Officers from the Urbana Police Department executed a traffic stop on Jackson’s car in June 2022 and eventually asked him to exit the vehicle after he handed an officer marijuana that had been inside it. After exiting the car, Jackson ran from the stop, producing a Ruger handgun during his flight. After he was apprehended, police found MDMA (ecstasy) and a large amount of cash on Jackson’s person.

Also at the hearing, U.S. District Judge Colins S. Bruce found that Jackson possessed the firearm in connection with a felony drug offense. Judge Bruce further ordered that the imposed sentence of 72 months’ imprisonment run consecutive to any sentence Jackson receives for violating his conditions of supervised release in relation to his prior federal narcotics conviction.

Jackson previously entered a guilty plea to the single-count indictment in this case.

Jackson is scheduled to appear in front of U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid on April 13, 2023, at the federal courthouse in Peoria, Illinois, in connection with the supervised release violation. He faces up to an additional five-year term of imprisonment.

The Urbana Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney William J. Lynch represented the government in the prosecution in cooperation with the Champaign County State’s Attorney’s Office.