CHICAGO (AP) - A Chicago gang member is facing sentencing for helping steal about 100 new guns from a freight train.
A judge is set Thursday to sentence 38-year-old Patrick Edwards, who prosecutors deem a career train burglar.
Edwards and seven others slipped into a Norfolk Southern rail yard in 2015 to steal guns that were being hauled to Spokane, Washington, from New Hampshire’s Sturm, Ruger & Co.
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Prosecutors say Edwards should know better than anyone how deadly gun trafficking can be, given his brother was fatally shot years ago. Prosecutors are asking for at least a 12-year prison sentence.
Defense lawyers say Edwards’ remorse and efforts to change behind bars should be considered.
The judge sentenced one of Edwards’ co-defendants to 10 years in prison, saying such thefts contribute to Chicago’s “epidemic of violence.”
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