East St. Louis Man Sentenced For Felon In Possession Of A Firearm

An East St. Louis man, Chris L. Hibbler, 44, was sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment today in United States District Court, East St. Louis, for Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Previously Convicted Felon, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Hibbler was also ordered to pay a $250 fine and a $100 special assessment and to serve a term of 3 years of supervised release following imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. Hibbler has been in custody since his arrest on July 17, 2012.

Court documents establish that on February 17, 2012, East St. Louis Police Officers were dispatched at approximately 1:40 a.m. to the 100th block of 5th Street in reference to a male armed with a shotgun. When the officers arrived, they encountered Chris L. Hibbler, who was armed with a Winchester, Model 37, 20-gauge sawed off shotgun. Hibbler agreed to an interview with law enforcement and admitted to possessing the firearm. Hibbler claimed that he found a bag on the ground near the Metro Link station which contained the sawed off shotgun and a round of ammunition. Hibbler stated that he intended to take the firearm to the south end of the city to shoot it. Court documents further establish that prior to February 17, 2012, Hibbler had been convicted of a felony.

The investigation was conducted by the East St. Louis Police Department and the WAVE Task Force. The WAVE Task Force focuses its efforts on combating violent crime in East St. Louis, Washington Park, and surrounding communities. WAVE was formed in November, 2009, and is a collaboration of law enforcement officers from the Illinois State Police, the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois (MEGSI), the East St. Louis Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The WAVE Task Force receives financial support through the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative, a nationwide federal program which endeavors to address gun-related violence.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ali Summers.