Felon faces up to 30 years after gun found in his Joliet home

A convicted felon faces up to 30 years in prison after police found a handgun in home, which he later claimed belonged to his girlfriend, according to prosecutors.

A Will County jury deliberated for about two hours Thursday before finding Derek Webb, 35, guilty of being an armed habitual criminal and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, according to a statement from the Will County state’s attorney’s office. The armed habitual charge is a Class X felony.

Prosecutors said Webb was caught with the .38-caliber handgun, though he had prior aggravated battery convictions in 2004 and 2006.

Joliet Police found the weapon in a coffee table while “executing a search warrant involving another target” at Webb’s house in the 5oo block of Ontario Street in Joliet on Dec. 13, 2013, a statement from prosecutors said.

Webb, 35, admitted in a videotaped confession that he owned the weapon, but later, he “testified he lied to police and that the weapon belonged to his girlfriend,” prosecutors said.

He faces between 6 and 30 years in prison when he is sentenced.