May 06--A Palos Hills man has been charged with illegally possessing and dealing firearms after he allegedly sold eight guns to a confidential informant, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
A federal grand jury indicted Steven Riley, 23, of Palos Hills, on charges of dealing firearms without a federal license and being a felon in possession of a firearm on Tuesday, federal prosecutors said in a news release.
Riley allegedly sold four rifles, three shotguns and a revolver -- some with obliterated serial numbers -- to a confidential informant between October 2014 and February 2015, according to the statement. Two loaded semi-automatic pistols -- a .45 caliber Colt and a Walther Model P99 -- and 1,872 rounds of ammunition were also seized from his house when he was arrested in March 2015, according to the statement and indictment.
According to prosecutors, during taped conversations Riley told the informant it was important to remove the serial numbers so the guns couldn't be traced. He also allegedly gave the informant ammunition at three of five sales and sold one gun already loaded, according to the statement.
The informant told authorities Riley showed him a shotgun in the trunk of his car and told the informant he and two others had stolen it, along with 10 other shotguns, from the owner of a car wash, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent said in the criminal complaint.
On October 31, 2014, Riley sold the informant the shotgun for $800, according to the complaint. Less than two weeks later, he sold the informant two rifles, a shotgun and ammunition for another $2,500, filing off serial numbers during the sale and wrapping the guns in a rug before carrying them to the informant's car, according to the criminal complaint. The complaint alleges three more sales took place by February.
Hickory Hills police assisted in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation, prosecutors.
Riley was convicted of manufacturing/delivering a controlled substance in 2012 and possessing a controlled substance in 2010, both felonies, according to the criminal complaint.
Riley was released on a $25,000 bond after his arrest, said a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon. A date for Riley's arraignment has not been set. The charge of selling firearms without a federal license carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the statement.
lzumbach@tribpub.com
