Chicago man sentenced to 7 years for illegally possessing, brandishing gun in public

CHICAGO (CBS) — A man is sentenced to seven years inside a federal prison for illegally possessing a loaded handgun on a Chicago street in 2021.

In the morning hours of Aug. 15, Brandon Ellis, 30, was observed by a Chicago Police Department surveillance camera lifting his shirt to brandish a weapon in his waistband to another individual, according to the U.S. State's Attorney's Office.

Police confronted Ellis and directed him to stop at which point he ran. 

Officers recovered a semiautomatic pistol from the defendant's waistband that was previously reported stolen.

Ellis pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal charge of illegal possession of a firearm. This is Ellis's third conviction for illegally possessing a firearm in the last five years after being released on federal charges less than four months prior, the office said.

The court on Wednesday sentenced Ellis to seven years in prison.

"By carrying a gun as a convicted felon in a high-crime area—and then brandishing that gun—he affirmatively created a volatile and potentially deadly situation on a street filled with people," Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Didwania said. "The law must make clear—through the sentence this Court imposes—that Ellis cannot break the rules with impunity; that this Court will protect the public from him; and that he will be punished severely until he stops."