Centreville Man Sentenced for Firearm Offense

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on December 6, 2010, DEMARKIS HAMBLIN, age 34, of Centreville, Illinois, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to a term of 77 months' imprisonment and a $200 fine. HAMBLIN was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his release from incarceration.

Previously, HAMBLIN had pled guilty to one count indictment charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm on September 2, 2010. The violation took place in March of 2010 in St. Clair County, Illinois.

The case resulted from the efforts of the WAVE (Working Against Violent Elements) Task Force, which focuses its efforts on combating violent crime in East St. Louis, Washington Park, and surrounding communities. WAVE was formed in November, 2009, and is a collaboration of law enforcement officers from the Illinois State Police, the Metropolitan Enforcement Group of Southwestern Illinois (MEGSI), the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, the East St. Louis Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the United States Marshals Service. The WAVE Task Force receives financial support through the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative, a nationwide federa program which endeavors to address gun-related violence. The case was  prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicole Gorovsky.