PEORIA, Ill. – A Peoria man could have been given a lot more time in prison than he was on a felony gun crime.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says a federal judge Wednesday sentenced Arnez Salazar, 26, to two years and four months (28 months) in prison after pleading guilty in May to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.
Prosecutors say Salazar had a handgun inside an inner pocket of a coat on the back of a chair he was sitting on when Peoria Police went looking for him in mid-January inside a local bar, because he was wanted on a warrant.
He is believed to have had multiple felony convictions at the time.
Salazar could have faced up to fifteen years in prison. He’ll be on parole for three years when he’s let out.