URBANA, Ill. – U.S. District Judge Colin S. Bruce has sentenced Jesse Guardiola, 43, of Grant Park, Ill., to serve 140 months (11 years, 8 months) in federal prison for five counts of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon. Guardiola has previously been identified by law enforcement as a member of the Latin Kings in Kankakee.
At sentencing, on Feb. 17, Judge Bruce ordered that Guardiola serve the statutory maximum sentence of 120 months for the five counts, to be served concurrently; however, for two counts, the court ordered that 20 months of the sentence be served consecutive to the other counts, for a total of 140 months in prison. He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release upon his release from prison. Guardiola has been in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since his arrest in June 2016.
On Oct. 7, 2016, Guardiola pled guilty to all five counts in the indictment. Guardiola was charged and pled guilty to possession of firearms: on Aug. 18, 2014, a Llama .380 caliber handgun; on Feb. 11, 2015, a Norinco, Model SKS, 7.62 x 39 caliber firearm; on Feb. 24, 2015, a Hi Point, Model JHP, .45 caliber handgun; on April 16, 2015, a separate Norinco, Model SKS, 7.62 x 39 caliber firearm; and, on May 27, 2015, a Colt, Model MKIV Series 80, Officers ACP, .45 caliber handgun. At sentencing, the court found that Guardiola knowingly sold all of the weapons to a confidential informant. Guardiola had prior felony convictions in Will, Kendall and Kankakee counties at the time he possessed and sold the firearms.
The charges are the result of ongoing investigations related to gun violence in the Kankakee area by the Kankakee Area Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force, which includes the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Kankakee Police Department; and the Kankakee County State’s Attorney’s Office. The case was prosecuted in the Urbana Division by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Freres.