Font Size

Chicago Area Local News

CBS 2 Most Popular Pages

Jewish Celebrities

E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

5 Years For Man Carrying Gun Near Obama's Home

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

Recipient E-mail:*
- Your Name:*
- Your E-mail:*
Add a Message:
Send me a copy of this e-mail.

Type the characters in this picture:*

Click here to refresh with new letters

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

Print Share +

Jul 10, 2009 1:43 pm US/Central

5 Years For Man Carrying Gun Near Obama's Home

Omhari Sengstacke Was Convicted Of Aggravated Unlawful Use Of A Weapon

CHICAGO (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: Omhari Sengstacke was is going to prison for five years, after he got too close to the security perimeter around President Barack Obama's South Side house while carrying a weapon.

Close

numSlides of totalImages

A South Side man caught carrying a weapon outside the Chicago home of President Barack Obama last fall was sentenced to five years in prison Friday.

Cook County Judge Nicholas Ford found Omhari Sengstacke, 31, guilty of aggravated unlawful use of a weapon on June 11 following a bench trial. On Friday, Judge Ford sentenced him to five years in prison, according to Cook County State's Attorney's office spokeswoman Tandra Simonton.

The sentence was below the maximum of seven years the judge could have imposed.

Sengstacke, grandson of late Chicago Defender publisher John Sengstacke, didn't make any threats against Obama in the Sept. 23 incident, but repeatedly approached officers conducting a security detail near the then-senator's home, saying he wanted to speak with Obama about getting a job, according to prosecutors.

When police searched Sengstacke's BMW, they found a .40-caliber semi-automatic weapon, a bulletproof vest and ammunition, prosecutors said.

Obama was home at the time, but Sengstacke never made it to the home.

Relatives indicated in a statement that he wasn't attempting to harm the Obamas, adding they reside in the area and are Obama supporters. Sengstacke did have a 2004 theft conviction and a 2006 forgery conviction, for which he served probation.