CHICAGO — A convicted felon from Chicago has pleaded guilty to federal firearm charges for illegally selling more than a dozen handguns and rifles.

JYMIL CAMPBELL, 31, admitted in a plea agreement that he sold ten handguns, four large-capacity magazines and three rifles during a nine-month period that ended with his arrest in August 2016.  Most of the sales occurred in Campbell’s residence in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago.  The sales netted Campbell a total of $8,700 in cash, the plea agreement states.  Unbeknownst to Campbell, the two buyers were confidential informants working on behalf of law enforcement.  They provided the guns to law enforcement after each sale.

Campbell pleaded guilty Tuesday to one count of willfully dealing firearms without a license and one count of illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  The convictions carry a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.  U.S. District Judge Robert W. Gettleman set sentencing for Nov. 15, 2018.

The guilty plea was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Celinez Nunez, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Devlin N. Su.

Campbell acknowledged in his plea agreement that he could not legally possess or deal firearms because he had previously been convicted of two felonies – home invasion and armed robbery – and he lacked a federal firearms license. 

According to the plea agreement, one of the gun buyers put Campbell on notice that the guns would be used in illegal gun violence.  Campbell nonetheless made the sale.  Campbell also admitted telling the buyer that although Campbell had personally fired one of the rifles, the firearm was essentially “brand new” and had not yet been “shot shot, like in a war.”