By Nick Gale, WLS-AM 890 News
(CHICAGO) –– A convicted felon has been sentenced to more than five years in federal prison for illegally possessing a loaded handgun in the western suburbs.
Prosecutors say Mark Hill had the gun in his possession back in June of 2016, in Broadview. Hill had previously been convicted of a felony and was not legally allowed to possess a firearm. After his arrest, Hill attempted to obstruct justice by urging his girlfriend to lie on his behalf.
Hill, 41, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon. He was sentenced to five years and ten months in federal prison on Tuesday.
“Possessing a firearm as a convicted felon is a serious offense and creates wholly unnecessary risks to public safety,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin E. Kelly argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.
Evidence in the case revealed that Hill stored the loaded handgun and additional ammunition under a mattress in the bedroom of his girlfriend’s apartment. After his arrest, Hill telephoned his girlfriend from jail on numerous occasions. Hill urged his girlfriend to lie under oath concerning the location of evidence that police found in the apartment. Hill also told his girlfriend that he would coach her testimony, requesting that she “come see me so you tell ‘em everything I tell you to say.”
Copyright 2018, WLS-AM News
