Ottawa man gets 6 years after plea in black-market gun case

Another suspect in the Ottawa-Streator crackdown of illegal guns has pleaded guilty and is headed to prison.

Friday, 22-year-old Nicholas B. Persinger, of Streator, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a weapon by a felon, a Class 2 felony carrying an extended prison term of 3-14 years because of his criminal history.

In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed to a 6-year term in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Persinger is eligible for day-for-day good time and, with about 6 months’ credit for time served, could be released from prison in late 2022.

Persinger was charged in February during a joint operation trying to keep black market firearms out of the hands of felons. In open court Friday, assistant La Salle County state’s attorney Matt Kidder said Persinger sold a weapon to a confidential informant working with authorities.

At the time of the illicit sale, Persinger was on parole – cut loose weeks earlier from a 4-year stint for drug dealing – and ineligible to possess a firearm.

Persinger declined an opportunity to address Chief Judge H. Chris Ryan Jr. before sentencing.

Persinger was one of four men charged after a late winter crackdown on black-market guns, during which several stolen or illegally procured firearms were sold, sometimes to felons not permitted to handle a weapon.

Two of the four suspects in the crackdown have now pleaded guilty and been sent to prison. Earlier this year, Terry R. Campbell Jr., 25, of Streator, pleaded guilty in May to unlawful possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

Two more cases are pending. Nicholas J. Reynolds, 22, of Ottawa, is set for hearing Tuesday on two counts of unlawful sale of firearms, one of them to a felon, and one count of harassment of a witness, for allegedly trying to coerce a witness into altering his testimony. Reynolds could face up to 12 years in prison.

Alexander G. Adams, 21, of Ottawa, will stand trial Nov. 16 for multiple felonies, including three counts of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon for allegedly possessing a sawed-off shotgun, rifle and a .38-caliber pistol he allegedly sold to a felon. He could face up to 17 years in prison.