Rockford man sentenced to 7.5 years in prison for crack and gun charges

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A Rockford man faces the next seven and a half years in prison for selling crack and possessing a firearm to protect it.

Jerry Hatchett, 48, was sentenced Wednesday to 94 months in federal prison for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in support of drug trafficking crimes, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.

Hatchett pleaded guilty in April to having about 6.4 grams of crack cocaine in his Rockford apartment on February 6, 2017. He said that in about six months he sold about 378 grams of crack cocaine from his apartment.

Four firearms were also found in Mr Hatchett’s apartment, which Mr Hatchett said he obtained by trading crack cocaine to protect the sale.