A Peoria man will spend more than five years in prison after he was sentenced for the theft of nearly 100 firearms from licensed dealers around central Illinois.
Keith L. Winters, 31, pleaded guilty to conspiring and stealing guns from federal firearms licensees, possessing stolen guns, and possessing firearms while a felon.
Winters was involved in a March 21, 2019 gun store burglary at The Tac Shack in Monmouth and a March 29, 2019 burglary at the Farm King in Galesburg. Federal prosecutors say Winters and his accomplices stole 36 guns from the Monmouth gun store, and 58 from the Galesburg Farm King.
The men then came back to Peoria and split up the stolen guns, said prosecutors. The firearms were traced to Peoria, Chicago, Evanston, and Iowa, Indiana, and Alabama. Authorities said they were used in numerous crimes, including robberies, shootings, and homicides.
Shell casings from one of the guns matched one of the guns fired in the July 19, 2020 mass shooting on the Peoria Riverfront. Thirteen people were injured in that shooting.
Two other men already have been sentenced in the case: Jeremy Howard, 41, was sentenced to 52 months in prison in July 2020 while 21-year-old Miray Smith was sentenced to 46 months in June.
