Peoria Man Sentenced to 58 Months in Prison for Possessing a Firearm As a Felon and for Violating Federal Supervised Release

PEORIA, Ill. - A Peoria, Illinois man, Tyruis Bramlett, 22, was sentenced on August 8, 2024, to 58 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a felon and violating the terms of his federal supervised release. His sentence includes a three-year term of supervised release to be served upon completion of his term of confinement.

At the sentencing hearing before U.S. District Judge James E. Shadid, the government established that in July 2023, Bramlett was on federal supervised release and was prohibited from possessing firearms due to his 2021 conviction for stealing firearms from a gun store in Creve Coeur, Illinois. On July 6, 2023, officers from the Peoria Police Department began investigating several shots-fired incidents in Peoria involving a red SUV reported stolen out of Kalamazoo, Michigan. On July 11, 2023, police officers located the SUV and followed it to a residence on North Sherbrook Lane. Officers approached the vehicle and took three occupants into custody, including Bramlett. During a search of the SUV, police located two 9mm handguns in the front -passenger area, both loaded and equipped with high-capacity extended magazines. Both handguns had previously been reported stolen. Upon closer inspection of the exterior of the SUV, police officers located multiple bullet holes on both sides of the rear portion of the vehicle. The rear driver's side window also appeared to have been shot out.

A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Bramlett charging him with possessing a firearm as a felon. He entered a guilty plea in April 2024. At his sentencing hearing, he admitted that he violated the terms of his supervised release by possessing a firearm, and also admitted to earlier incidents in April 2023 where he fled from police at a high rate of speed, drove without a license, and left the scene of an accident. His total sentence of 58 months is a combination of a term of 46 months' imprisonment on the gun conviction to be served consecutively to a 12-month prison sentence for violations of supervised release.

Bramlett was previously detained in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service pending the resolution of his case.

The statutory penalties for possessing a firearm as a felon are not more than 15 years of imprisonment, to be followed by up to three years of supervised release.

The Peoria Area Federal Firearms Task Force, comprised of agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Peoria Police Department; the Peoria County Sheriff's Department; Illinois Department of Corrections; and the Illinois State Police, investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald L. Hanna represented the government in the prosecution.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.