A Glenview man is facing up to 10 years in prison after he was found guilty of selling a “ghost gun” to a convicted felon in a grocery store parking lot in Deerfield, authorities said.
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A jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Feb. 8 found, Joseph Ghandour, 31, of Glenview, guilty of illegally selling an AR-15 rifle to the felon during a meeting in a grocery store parking lot in Deerfield, on July 28, 2017, according to a release from the FBI. It said the rifle was considered a “ghost gun” because it contained no identifiable serial number and had been manufactured by another individual from parts collected from various sources. The felon Ghandour sold the rifle to was cooperating with law enforcement, said authorities.
Ghandour was convicted of “selling or disposing of a firearm to a convicted felon who could not lawfully possess a firearm,” the release said. It said the charge is punishable by a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis scheduled sentencing for June 22, at 10:30 a.m.
The conviction was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.
Disrupting illegal firearms trafficking is a centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s cross-jurisdictional strike force aimed at reducing gun violence, the release said. As part of the Chicago firearms trafficking strike force, the U.S. Attorney’s Office collaborates with federal, state, and local law enforcement partners in the Northern District of Illinois and across the country to help stem the supply of illegally trafficked firearms and identify patterns, leads, and potential suspects in violent gun crimes, the release said.