East St. Louis Man Sentenced for Firearms Offenses

Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on January 18, 2011, ANDRE P. INGRAM, age 48, of East St. Louis, Illinois, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to a term of 180 months’ imprisonment and a $500 fine. In addition, INGRAM was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his term of incarceration. In addition, pursuant to the terms of his plea agreement, the firearm used in the commission of the offenses was ordered forfeited. INGRAM had previously pled guilty on October 15, 2010, to assault of a federal officer and possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon.

According to court documents, the violations occurred on or about February 2, 2010, when agents of the FBI and Illinois State Police went to a residence in East St. Louis in an attempt to find individuals who had just fled from the police. INGRAM answered the door but initially refused to come out in the open. After failing to comply with the officers’ commands, INGRAM stepped out from behind a small partial wall and raised his right hand holding a firearm in a manner as if he were going to use it. The firearm recovered had one bullet in the chamber and a fully loaded magazine. INGRAM was shot by law enforcement officers during the attempt to disarm him.

According to U.S. Attorney Wigginton, “Criminals who carry and use firearms pose a serious risk to all law-abiding citizens and disrupt the rights of all people who simply wish to live and raise their families in a safe community. The United States Attorney’s Office will continue to vigorously enforce this nation’s firearms laws and aggressively prosecute those who violate them.”

Stu McArthur, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Springfield Division stated, “The FBI, Illinois State Police, and our law enforcement partners on the WAVE detail, risk their lives every day to protect the public from dangerous criminals who threaten our communities. An assault on law enforcement officers is an additional threat to all law abiding citizens who rely on the police to keep them safe. It is our hope that this sentence will serve as a stern deterrent to all who would consider resisting or assaulting law enforcement officers while in the performance of their duties.”

This prosecution 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 federal program which endeavors to address gun-related violence.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Deirdre A. Durborow.