Man gets 15-year federal term for selling gun used in Chicago fatal shooting
Levion Thomas was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to selling a handgun that an undercover Chicago police officer later identified as the weapon used to kill Troy Pouncey.
Levion Thomas received a 15-year federal prison sentence after admitting to illegal firearm possession and selling a handgun to an undercover Chicago police officer. The weapon, purchased for $500 in Burnham, Illinois, was tied to the March 5, 2023 shooting that fatally wounded Troy Pouncey, who died at the University of Chicago Medical Center. The transaction was arranged by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives together with Chicago police, who had been monitoring Thomas’s attempts to sell the gun.
Judge Thomas M. Durkin handed down the sentence following Thomas’s 2024 guilty plea. Thomas had earlier been sentenced to a year in prison for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in 2021. Federal prosecutors Julia Schwartz and Jessica Ecker emphasized that the case underscores the need to curb illegal firearm possession in the city.
Why it matters
The case shows federal enforcement targeting illegal gun sales that enable deadly violence.
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