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| Levonta Nesbitt was first charged in state court after cops allegedly found him with a gun in River North. | CPD; Google |
A twice-convicted robbery offender who was charged with being an armed habitual criminal after police reportedly found him with a handgun during a narcotics operation in River North is now accused of threatening to kill his public defender.
Making matters worse for Levonta Nesbitt, authorities have decided to slap him with federal gun charges.
Cops were dispersing loiterers from a narcotics hot spot in the 1100 block of North Clark Street on the afternoon of Dec. 18th when they came in contact with the 25-year-old.
While completing paperwork related to the dispersal, police discovered an arrest warrant had been issued for Nesbitt because he failed to appear in court on charges of having a stolen Divvy bike last summer.
When police detained Nesbitt for the warrant, he announced, “I have a gun on me,” police said. An officer allegedly recovered a 9-millimeter handgun from Nesbitt’s jacket pocket.
Officers quoted Nesbitt as saying, “I had a gun on me because people are trying to kill me.” He went on to say that he “won” the gun in a dice game, police said.
State records show Nesbitt was convicted of armed robbery with a firearm in 2010 and robbery in 2014. He was paroled in April 2018 after serving half of a three-year sentence for aggravated fleeing that caused bodily injury.
Now, state prosecutors have charged him with felony threatening of a public official after he allegedly left a voicemail message threatening to kill his public defender “and anyone else.”
And the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago has elected to charge Nesbitt with being a felon in possession of a handgun that traveled in interstate commerce.
Meanwhile, Nesbitt’s public defender asked the court to allow her to withdraw as his lawyer and the Law Office of the Cook County Public Defender asked the court to assign someone from outside of its office to work on Nesbitt’s behalf.
State gun charges were dropped after the federal case was filed.
