Seven Beloiters arrested in gun and drug sweep
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BELOIT—Drugs and gun violence were the targets of a sweep by federal, county and city law enforcement Thursday.
Agents and officers set out to arrest 10 people, according to a Beloit Police Department news release. Seven were arrested.
“This operation is proof of a long-term collaboration to reduce violent crime in Beloit,” Police Chief Norm Jacobs said in the release.
The city has suffered an unusual string of shootings over the past 12 months, resulting in eight homicides.
A news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Madison listed the following people arrested and charged in complaints made public Thursday:
-- Ceasar Hernandez, 24, four counts of distributing cocaine, one count of distributing marijuana, and felon in possession of a firearm.
The complaint alleges that on April 15 Hernandez sold a .22-caliber handgun to a law-enforcement informant.
-- Llewellyn D. Sams, 36, distributing heroin and three counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The complaint alleges Sams sold a .270-caliber rifle March 12, two 12-gauge shotguns April 6 and a .32-caliber pistol April 9 all to an undercover officer or officers.
Sams was already in custody in Rock County on a probation violation.
-- Fabian W. Jones, 33, three counts of distributing crack cocaine for offenses that allegedly occurred in August and September 2014.
The others facing drug charges were charged for offenses that allegedly occurred in 2015.
-- Paris D. Davis, 29, two counts of distributing cocaine.
-- Leon Patterson, 48, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The complaint alleges that on Jan. 8, Patterson sold a .40-caliber pistol and ammunition to an undercover officer.
-- Patrick Maurice Little, 42, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The complaint alleges that on Jan. 15, he sold a .380-caliber pistol and ammunition to an undercover officer.
-- Byron Dewayne Kidd, 20, felon in possession of a firearm.
The complaint alleges that on March 19, Kidd sold a 9mm handgun to an undercover officer.
The arrests were announced at a news conference in Beloit. Participating were John Vaudreuil, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin; Rock County Sheriff Robert Spoden; Jacobs; and special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The agencies, along with the Rock County District Attorney's Office, comprise G-ROC, a task force formed through the FBI's Safe Streets Violent Crime Initiative, to address gang and drug-related violence.
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