A federal grand jury has charged Efrain Jacobo, a resident of Prospect Heights, Illinois, with trafficking firearms and drugs. The indictment was returned in the U.S. District Court in Chicago and accuses Jacobo of engaging in illegal activities involving firearms and narcotics. During his arraignment, Jacobo pleaded not guilty to the charges and is currently detained in federal custody.
The allegations against Jacobo stem from transactions conducted last fall in Joliet, Illinois. According to the indictment and a prior criminal complaint, Jacobo sold six handguns, a rifle, ammunition, methamphetamines, and cocaine to an undercover law enforcement officer without realizing their identity.
Further investigations led law enforcement officers to seize approximately 150 kilograms of methamphetamines from a truck traveling from Texas to Bolingbrook, Illinois. Additional seizures included fentanyl and cocaine found at a storage facility used by Jacobo in Wheeling, Illinois, as well as more cocaine discovered in his vehicle.
Morris Pasqual, Acting 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 & Explosives; Sheila G. Lyons, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration; and Mike Rompa, Chief of the Bolingbrook Police Department announced the indictment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Margaret A. Steindorf represents the government in this case.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant remains presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.