Lazaro Salas, 32, of Chicago, faces one count of dealing firearms without a license and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
From September 2013 to November 2015, Salas illegally sold between 40 and 60 firearms that he had bought through a straw purchaser, prosecutors said. Two of the guns were later found in possession of gang members.
Salas, who is a convicted felon, purchased four guns on Jan. 7 from an undercover ATF agent in a store parking lot near his home, prosecutors said. He paid $350 for two guns, and agreed to buy the other pair for $200 and an ounce of marijuana.
The indictment was returned Tuesday in U.S. District Court. The charge of dealing firearms without a license is punishable by up to five years in prison, while being a felon-in-possession of a firearm carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and a $250,000 fine.
