Tip Leads to Arrest of Fugitive Running from Weapons and Narcotics Charges
| U.S. Attorney’s Office May 14, 2012 |
A fugitive who has been on the run from law enforcement since last December after being charged with violating federal firearms statutes and conspiring to sell and distribute a controlled substance was taken into custody by Chicago Police Department (CPD) officers over the weekend.
Marcus Jefferson, age 31, whose last known address was in the 13000 block of South Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago, was arrested in Chicago without incident on May 12, 2012. The arrest was announced today by Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Garry F. McCarthy, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. Jefferson’s arrest was due in large part to a tip provided by an alert citizen who had seen media coverage regarding Jefferson’s fugitive status.
The charges against Jefferson stemmed from a two-year investigation conducted by the FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs and CPD’s Organized Crime Bureau and Gang Investigations Division. According to the indictment filed against him, Jefferson illegally sold a firearm to an individual who, unbeknownst to Jefferson, was cooperating with law enforcement. The indictment also alleged that Jefferson participated in a conspiracy to sell and distribute a controlled substance, specifically crack cocaine.
Jefferson will appear at a later date before a U.S. Magistrate Judge, at which time he will be formally charged. That court date has yet to be scheduled. If convicted of the charges filed against him, Jefferson faces a possible sentence of 15 years to life in prison.
The Chicago FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs is comprised of FBI special agents and officers from the Chicago Police Department.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Illinois State Police Forensic Laboratory, the Cook County Sheriff’s Intelligence Unit, and the Illinois Department of Corrections provided substantial support to the investigation that led to the charges against Jefferson and the other defendants.
The public is reminded that a criminal complaint is not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Copies of the federal grand jury indictment in this case are available from the Chicago FBI’s Press Office at 312-829-1199.