A man convicted in an Ottawa home invasion, during which shots were fired, has struck out with an appeals court. Fernando Martinez got no relief and will continue serving his 28-year sentence.

Martinez, 22, was sentenced last year for multiple offenses, led by home invasion, for his role in an armed break-in on Nov. 2, 2023.

On appeal, Martinez did not challenge his conviction for home invasion but instead disputed his concurrent conviction for unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon. He argued the statute is unconstitutional. Specifically, Martinez challenged the lifetime prohibition of possessing a firearm for felons.

Justices with the 3^rd District Appellate Court unanimously ruled against him. The statute prohibiting felons from possessing firearms, he said, is consistent with both the U.S. Constitution and the Illinois Constitution.

Justice John C. Anderson ruled the statuteis consistent with “(the) country’s history and tradition of disarming individuals that violate the law or are deemed dangerous. The 20th-century laws prohibiting felons from possessing firearms evolved from comparable status-based restrictions dating back to the founding era.”

Justices William Holdridge and Liam Brennan concurred in the judgment, which further ruled the statute consistent with the Illinois Constitution. The state, the justice ruled, holds “an immense degree of control over firearms by explicitly limiting the right to bear arms subject to the police power.”

“The disarmament of felons under the unlawful possession of a weaponstatute is a proper exercise of this power,” Anderson wrote, “which contemplates legislation intended to prohibit or restrict anything that presents a danger to the welfare of the people.”

Martinez was developed as a suspect after an Ottawa woman told police an intruder entered her bedroom, put a gun to her head, and demanded the combination to a safe. She said she didn’t know the combination, and the gunman struck her behind her left ear.

The woman was, however, able to send text messages to her live-in boyfriend, who raced home with two companions in tow. He entered the home with a .38 pistol and fired at one of the intruders. Not long after, Martinez was found at Morris Hospital being treated for a gunshot wound to his arm.

Martinez never cooperated during the investigation. At trial, Martinez argued that there was no direct evidence linking him to the break-in. Prosecutors, however, produced videos of him being treated for a gunshot wound in Morris and of possessing evidence found to have been taken during the break-in.