Washington Park Man Pleads Guilty to Firearms Charge

Dontae Ramon Reid, 26, of Washington Park, Illinois, pled guilty on October 12, 2011, to being a felon in possession of a firearm, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois Stephen R. Wigginton announced today.

As revealed in court, the facts surrounding this case are that on October 27, 2010, East St. Louis Police received a 911 call reporting a home invasion at 4816 State Street, East St. Louis, Illinois. When officers arrived at this residence, witnesses provided information that Reid and another male had entered their home holding handguns and then threatened a juvenile male with the firearm. The witnesses informed the police that Reid and the other black male escorted the juvenile male out of the house. Witnesses in the house described Reid and the firearm that he was brandishing. The WAVE (Working Against Violent Elements) team was working in the area, so they responded to the scene. WAVE team members and East St. Louis police officers conducted a search in and around the area where the home invasion had occurred and found Reid and another black male nearby. Police also located a firearm in close proximity to Reid. This firearm, a 9mm Luger, hi- Point, Model C9, semi-automatic, matched the descriptions given by the witnesses in the house as the firearm that Reid was seen carrying. Further, the 9mm Luger was submitted to the Illinois State Police Crime Lab for fingerprint analysis, and an expert found that Reid’s latent fingerprint matched a fingerprint identified on the 9mm Luger.

On March 11, 2011, Reid pled guilty to possession of body armor. Reid’s sentencing hearing for that case, as well as for this case, is pending.

This case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.