An Evanston man, charged with murder after a gun sale gone bad resulted in an associate’s death at a Lindenhurst home in 2018, was found guilty Wednesday and sentenced to 6.5 years in prison.
Michael J. Zachery, who was 23 when the crime occurred, will get credit for time served meaning he has about half the sentence left behind bars.
Zachery was arrested in October 2018 and plead not guilty to two counts of felony murder. He was charged in the shooting death of 34-year-old Joseph McHaney of Chicago, with whom he had plotted to rob a Lindenhurst homeowner they were set to buy a gun from at his home on Oct. 16, 2018.
The murder charge against Zachery stemmed from state laws that allow such charges due to Zachery’s involvement in the criminal incident that resulted in McHaney’s death.
According to prosecutors and the Lake County Major Crime Task Force, Zachery and McHaney drove to a house on Teal Road in Lindenhurst in the early morning hours to purchase a gun in a sale prearranged with the homeowner.
According to the state’s attorney office, after the two men arrived, the homeowner and McHaney went to a separate room from the area in which Zachery was waiting.
Gunshots were then heard, and Zachery brandished a knife and attempted to flee before being subdued by occupants of the home until police arrived in response to a 911 call.
Zachery admitted to police he and McHaney went to the house to steal the gun. He did not have any known prior criminal cases against him at the time of his arrest.