“On Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel met with representatives of the UCAN organization to make the case for further gun controls to combat the city’s violent crime. Chicago’s WLS reported that Emanuel used the opportunity to demand enactment of “strong and sensible” legislation targeting firearms dealers while lambasting federal gun laws as weak. However, a sentence handed down in a recent straw purchasing case bolsters the argument that the city’s violent crime problem is a result of weak and inconsistent enforcement of existing law rather than a need for more gun control.
Back in September, the Chicago Police Department issued a press release announcing the arrest of 22-year-old Mount Prospect, Ill resident Simone Mousheh on four felony charges for selling two firearms to a gang-affiliated man in Chicago. Mousheh held a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID), which is required to possess firearms in Illinois, and used it to purchase at least four firearms over a six-month period. The report noted that after lawfully acquiring two of the firearms, Mousheh sold them to the Chicago man despite being “aware that he did not possess an FOID card and that he was on probation for domestic battery.” According to the report, “Mousheh had also made a $1000.00 cash deposit” on an additional firearm. Further, Police noted that Mousheh “is not an uncommon example of a female with a valid FOID that illegally sells guns for profit.”
The press release also forecasted, “History has shown that these cases usually result in a plea of guilty in exchange for felony probation” and, “The felony arrest is not expected to result in jail time…”
Last week the department’s prediction came true, as it was reported by the Daily Herald that Mousheh had pleaded guilty in the case and was sentenced to 15 day stint in Cook County’s “Sheriff’s Work Alternative Program” (S.W.A.P.), 12 months of probation, and a $679 fine.”
