Second suspect headed to prison for Ottawa-Streator crackdown of black-market guns

Another suspect in the Ottawa-Streator crackdown of black-market guns is headed to prison.

Alexander G. Adams, 21, of 415 Catherine St., Ottawa was set for trial Monday on multiple felonies led by three counts of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, a Class 2 felony carrying an extended range of 3-14 years due to his record. According to court records, Adams, a parolee, possessed in February a sawed-off shotgun and rifle and sold a .38-caliber pistol to a felon.

However, Adams entered a trial-averting plea late Thursday and accepted a seven-year sentence for possession by a felon. With Adams now headed for the Illinois Department of Corrections, prosecutors have now convicted two of the five men corralled in a crackdown of black-market firearms.

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.

Three more cases are pending. Nicholas B. Persinger, 22, of Streator will appear later this month on possession of a weapon by a felon. Nicolas J. Reynolds, 22, of Ottawa will appear next month 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.

The fifth suspect, 20-year-old Bobby C. Richardson Jr. of Streator, faces a charge of armed violence following a March gun seizure, but his case was compounded when he was apprehended in an October drug raid.