Felon sentenced to more than 2 years in federal prison for illegally possessing “machine gun” in Chicago (DOJ)

CHICAGO - A felon has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison for illegally possessing a machine gun in Chicago.

On Sept. 12, 2025, ANTONIO LUKES possessed a handgun equipped with a "Glock switch" conversion device that made the firearm capable of firing in fully automatic mode. Lukes was standing next to an empty vehicle near Jackson Boulevard and Western Avenue on the West Side of Chicago with the firearm concealed in his waistband. As Chicago Police officers drove by Lukes in their squad car, the firearm fell out of his waistband to his feet. Lukes ran from the officers but was arrested after a brief chase. Lukes had previously been convicted of multiple felony offenses and was legally prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Lukes, 40, of Chicago, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a federal charge of unlawful possession of a firearm. On Aug. 17, 2026, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman sentenced Lukes to 28 months in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. The investigation was conducted in coordination with ATF's Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Chicago. The CGIC is a centralized law enforcement partnership that focuses exclusively on investigating and prosecuting violent offenders who utilize firearms in commission of their crimes in Chicago and throughout northern Illinois. Every firearm-related case in Chicago is processed through the CGIC on a daily basis.

"Defendant's crime is a serious one," Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Skiba argued in the government's sentencing memorandum. "The Glock that defendant possessed that night was no ordinary firearm. The switch made a dangerous weapon even more dangerous still."