Man gets 7 years for stashing guns, grenade launcher in Elgin storage unit

SUN TIMES MEDIA WIRE - An alleged gun and drug trafficker was sentenced to prison Friday for storing machine guns, ammunition and a grenade launcher in a northwest suburban storage unit.

Juan Mexicano, 33, of Elgin, was sentenced to seven years in prison, which is the maximum sentence allowed by law, the Kane County state’s attorney’s office said in a statement.

Authorities executed a search warrant on Aug. 12, 2016 at a storage facility in the 600 block of Big Timber Road in Elgin and found 31 weapons, including a grenade launcher, five automatic long guns, two live grenades and thousands of rounds of ammunition, prosecutors said.

Among the guns were a Colt AR15, a Schmeisser rifle and a Thompson sub-machine gun, prosecutors said.

Elgin police and federal investigators determined the guns and ammunition were Mexicano’s property, prosecutors said.

Mexicano will also serve time for a federal conviction in California for cocaine distribution charges, the state’s attorney’s office said.

“Mr. Mexicano is a gun and drug dealer whose capture and prosecution is the result of cooperation across multiple state and federal agencies and the Elgin Police Department,” Kane County State’s Attorney Joe McMahon said in the statement.