CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago man who trafficked fentanyl and cocaine and illegally possessed a loaded handgun has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.

WILLIAM FILLYAW possessed the drugs and gun on Oct. 28, 2022, in the parking lot of his apartment complex in Gurnee, Ill. Fillyaw carried a backpack that contained the cocaine packaged in quarter-ounce quantities, the fentanyl wrapped in three square bricks, and the handgun. Fillyaw intended to sell the fentanyl and cocaine on the streets, and he acknowledged possessing the gun in connection with his drug trafficking activities. The firearm had no serial number and had been assembled from a gun kit, making it an untraceable "ghost gun."

Fillyaw, 47, pleaded guilty earlier this year to federal drug and firearm charges. U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly imposed the 12-year prison sentence during a hearing on Friday in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Michael E. Hensle, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Milwaukee, Wis., Field Office of the FBI. Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Milwaukee Police Department, Cudahy, Wis. Police Department, and Wisconsin State Patrol.

"Narcotics distribution and firearm offenses are serious crimes that adversely impact the people who live and work in the Northern District of Illinois," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirsten Moran and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Niranjan Emani argued in the government's sentencing memorandum. "The increased presence of ghost guns in Chicago, and the country in general, is troubling, as they are often used in crimes and are difficult to trace."

Holding illegal firearm possessors accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). In the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorney's Office and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses.