United States v. Sands, No. 14-3409 (7th Cir. 2015)
Annotate this CaseChicago Officer Williams received information from a registered informant that an individual whom the informant personally knew was selling narcotics from a gold Toyota Camry with tinted windows near 71st and Paxton. The informant gave the license plate number and the suspect's description. Williams drove to the location, saw Sands in the driver’s seat of a gold Toyota Camry at 7102 South Paxton, and parked to conduct surveillance. Officers Kilroy, Darling, and Gadzik were in another vehicle, out of sight. Williams saw Sands engage in a hand-to-hand transaction. He informed the enforcement officers that a narcotics transaction had occurred. Kilroy drove the enforcement vehicle to block the Camry. Kilroy testified that the buyer exited the Camry and ran into a store. Gadzik pursued the buyer. Kilroy approached the Camry and saw Sands, holding a firearm, which he moved to the center console. Kilroy ordered Sands to exit the car, then removed Sands, patted him down, and passed Sands to another officer. Kilroy entered the Camry, opened the console, and located Sands’s firearm, containing live ammunition, and 10-15 bags of marijuana under a false console floor. At trial on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1), the court precluded Sands from arguing that Hunter placed the firearm into the console, but allowed Sands to argue that the firearm was Hunter’s. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, upholding that ruling and denial of a motion to suppress.
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