Suburban Chicago Man Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison for Trafficking Firearms and Drugs

CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for trafficking firearms and drugs.

In the fall of 2024, EFRAIN JACOBO sold methamphetamine, cocaine, and seven firearms in a series of transactions in Joliet, Ill. Unbeknownst to Jacobo, the buyers were undercover law enforcement officers.

On Dec. 17, 2024, Jacobo shared tracking information with the undercover officers for a truck containing meth that was traveling to Illinois from Texas. At Jacobo's direction, the truck arrived at a shipping facility in Bolingbrook, Ill., the following day. Law enforcement searched inside the truck and discovered more than 150,000 grams of meth. A subsequent search of a storage facility leased by Jacobo in Wheeling, Ill., turned up more than 1,800 grams of fentanyl.

Jacobo, 44, of Prospect Heights, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal firearm and drug charges. On June 11, 2026, U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly sentenced Jacobo to 16 years in federal prison.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Christopher Amon, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosive, and Todd C. Smith, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The Bolingbrook, Ill. Police Department provided valuable assistance.

"Defendant plainly was a powerful and high-level drug dealer," Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie C. Stern argued in the government's sentencing memorandum. "Drug sellers of any illegal narcotics have a negative impact on society. They help fuel a drug trade that can devastate lives, families, and communities."