South suburban man acquitted of giving gun to felon

Police and prosecutors have said they suspect that alleged murderer Arthur Mendez used a gun he received from Sabastian Torres, but the murder weapon hasn’t been recovered.

SHARE South suburban man acquitted of giving gun to felon
Sabastian Torres

Sabastian Torres

Facebook

A federal jury has acquitted a south suburban man of charges that he provided a .357-caliber revolver to a convicted felon prohibited from possessing a gun.

Sabastian Torres, of Chicago Heights, was accused of transferring the gun to a felon on May 4, 2018. He was found not guilty on Aug. 15.

Torres was able to buy guns legally with his valid state firearm owner’s identification card, but wasn’t allowed to provide a gun to a felon, authorities said.

The felon, Arthur Mendez, was on parole and living with Torres, according to a court filing. In an interview, Torres told a federal agent that he was a former member of the Latin Counts gang and Mendez was a member, court records said.

Mendez, 22, is facing a murder charge in the June 2, 2018, shooting of 25-year-old Nicole DeLeon in South Chicago Heights.

Police and prosecutors have said they suspected Mendez used a gun he received from Torres, but the murder weapon hasn’t been recovered.

The Latest
Despite getting into foul trouble, which limited him to just six minutes in the second half, Shannon finished with 29 points, five rebounds and two assists.
Cowboy hats, bell-bottoms and boots were on full display Thursday night as fans lined up for the first of his three sold-out shows.
The incident occurred about 3:40 p.m. near Minooka. The horse was successfully placed back into the trailer, and the highway reopened about 40 minutes later. No injuries were reported.
The Hawks conceded the game’s only two goals within the first seven minutes and were shut out for the 12th time this season in a 2-0 defeat Thursday.
Eileen O’Neill Burke is leading Clayton Harris III, 50.15% to 49.85%, a margin that changed only by hundredths of a percentage point, after city and suburban officials tallied more mail-in ballots Thursday.