A suburban man sold at least 80 guns to Chicago gang members, according to prosecutors. View Full Caption Flickr/diversey

CHICAGO — A suburban man put at least 80 guns into the hands of Chicago gang members, and those guns were then used in shootings, prosecutors say.

Walter Freeman, 36, of Lisle, gave Timothy Vana, 54, of Forest Park, crack cocaine in exchange for the guns, according to a Wednesday news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Freeman then sold the guns to people he knew were in gangs in Chicago, and the guns were used in shootings and other crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Freeman pleaded guilty to intentionally distributing a controlled substance and possessing a gun in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Wednesday.

The “defendant’s possession and sale of at least 80 weapons directly contributed to the violence that our city faces,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennie Levin said in the government’s sentencing memorandum. “He has victimized the entire Chicago community.”

Freeman received 40 guns from Vana between 1999 and 2001 and another 40 guns from 2010 to 2011, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Vana had stolen the guns, which included revolvers and semi-automatic weapons, from a gun collector who lived in his family's home in Bolingbrook, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"Many" of the guns were later used in shootings and other crimes and were then found by law enforcement, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In a written plea agreement, Freeman said from 2008 to 2013 he sold about 7 grams of crack cocaine to a regular group of customers every week, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He also sold crack cocaine to undercover agents on several occasions between 2011 and 2012, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Vana pleaded guilty last month to being a felon in possession of a gun and knowingly possessing a gun he had cause to believe was stolen, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He has not yet been sentenced.

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