PEORIA, Ill. – Four Peoria residents were sentenced after trying to rob several area gun stores.
The Department of Justice says 22-year-old Erika Garner was sentenced on Tuesday to time served, followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring last August to burglarize gun stores in Spring Valley, Taylorville, LeRoy, Lincoln, Decatur and Bloomington.
Three other individuals also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and possess the firearms.
23-year-old Dezmond Hardy was sentenced on May 16 to 21 months in prison, followed by three years supervised release.
20-year-old Shaleik Ward was sentenced May 9 to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
23-year-old Terrence Daniels received a sentence of 45 months in prison, followed by three years supervised release. His sentence was a combination of a 33-month sentence for the conspiracy charge and a 12-month consecutive sentence for committing the offense while on supervised release for a similar crime in 2019 and 2020 when he and others stole 50 guns during a five-county burglary spree of gun stores.
Daniels, Ward and Hardy have remained in U.S. Marshals custody since their arrests.
Garner was originally released on bond, but it was revoked in November 2023 after she violated her conditions of release.
All four defendants have to jointly pay $2,500 in restitution for damages to one of the gun stores.
The DOJ says that at Gardner’s sentencing, evidence was presented that on multiple occasions, between August 14-18, 2023, the defendants drove from Peoria to six Central Illinois towns and tried to rob them.
The four defendants attempted to steal firearms from Mean Metal in Spring Valley; Powder Key Outfitters in Taylorville; Guns and Glory in LeRoy; Tactical Bunker in Lincoln; Archers Alley in Decatur; and Smiley’s Sports Shop in Bloomington.
Though several of the businesses suffered property damage, the defendants failed to enter any of the stores, and no firearms were taken.
All four defendants were arrested on August 18, 2023, when the Peoria Area Federal Firearms Task Force and Peoria Police stopped them on War Memorial Drive as the defendants returned from their most recent burglary attempt.
The statutory penalties for conspiracy to steal and possess guns from a federal firearms licensee is up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release.
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