An Ottawa man is beginning a three-year prison term for the illegal sale of a firearm. Twenty-two year old Nicholas J. Reynolds pleaded guilty this month to the unlawful sale of a firearm by a felon. Other charges, selling a gun without a firearm owner ID card and harassing a witness, were dropped.
Reynolds was one of four people arrested in a gun sale sting in LaSalle County in March this year. One of those other men went to prison for a seven-year term, another for six years, and another for three. One of the men asked to take back his guilty plea, but he changed his mind. A fifth person arrested with them faced only traffic charges.
Sheriff Tom Templeton and Ottawa Police Chief Brent Roalson said in March the guns were stolen from various places. Some were cut down and defaced so it would be hard to track where they came from.
Earlier stories on this case are here and here.
March 2020 photo. Sheriff Tom Templeton shows one of the guns confiscated during the investigation into illegal gun sales.