Interstate Firearms Trafficker Sentenced

For Immediate Release
August 26, 2010

Contact: Special Agent in Charge Andrew L. Traver
Contact: Acting PIO/Special Agent Todd Reichert
Acting U.S. Attorney William C. Martin
Contact: John Alexander, Criminal Chief

Chicago Man Sentenced to 10 Years Federal Prison

GREENVILLE, Miss. — On Wednesday, Quawi Gates, 27, formerly of 2115 W. 71st St., Chicago, Ill., was sentenced to two 5-year sentences to be served consecutively for a total of 10 years in federal prison. Gates was sentenced for his role in a firearms trafficking scheme which resulted in the illegal interstate trafficking of firearms from Mississippi to Chicago, Illinois. Gates pleaded guilty to two counts of aiding and abetting another to cause a federal firearms dealer to keep false records in violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 924 (a)(1)(A).

Four firearms purchased for Gates in Mississippi have been recovered in violent crimes in the Chicago area at the hands of Gangster Disciple street gang members. The firearm which was used in the murder of Chicago Police Officer Thomas Wortham IV on May 19, was one of the firearms illegally trafficked by Gates. Wortham was gunned down in front of his parent’s house in the Chatham neighborhood of Chicago. Gates was investigated by special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and police officers from the Chicago Police Department assigned to an ATF Firearms Trafficking Taskforce located in Chicago, Ill.

Gates was sentenced by Judge Allen Pepper in the Northern Judicial District of Mississippi in Greenville, Miss. Gates’ incarceration will be followed by three years of supervised release. Gates was ordered to pay a mandatory special assessment fee of $200. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Bradley of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern Judicial District of Mississippi.