CHICAGO — Prosecutors say a South Chicago man sold seven firearms, including a rifle and two ghost guns, to an undercover federal agent during four separate meetings on a Walgreens parking lot. Judge Ankur Srivastava ordered Jermaine Minor, 23, detained to await trial.
The sales took place between May and September last year, according to court records, but police did not arrest Minor until a few days ago. No reason for the delay is given in the court file.
An undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives bought the guns from Minor during meet-ups at Walgreens, 9148 South Commercial, the state’s criminal complaints said.
The first sale, of a 5.56-millimeter rifle, occurred on May 5, 2022, prosecutors say. Minor went on to sell six more guns to the agent, two at a time, in July, August, and September last year, according to the allegations. Those weapons included two Polymer 80 “ghost guns,” three 9-millimeter pistols, and a “privately made CPMF AR pistol” without a serial number, the criminal complaints said.
In Minor’s arrest report, Chicago police officers claimed that he made $200 to $300 by selling guns, but it’s unclear if that is the total or the amount he made for each firearm.
He is charged with one count of gunrunning and seven counts of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon.
Judge Srivastava noted Minor’s previous felony gun conviction in his detention order.
“If defendant sold 7 firearms to an undercover agent over 4 months, it can be inferred he sold firearms to others as well,” Srivastava wrote in the order.
Original reporting you’ll see nowhere else, paid for by our readers. Click here to support our work.
