An Arkansas man arrested this week in Chicago on accusations that he illegally trafficked and sold guns in the city was released from federal custody Thursday.
Court filings show that U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman ordered Klint Kelley, 27, of Malvern to be released on his own recognizance pending a pretrial hearing Wednesday.
Kelley was released over the objection of federal authorities, according to case records. He was given the choice of staying with his sister in a Chicago suburb or with another family member in Little Rock until the hearing.
Kelley's decision was not known. His attorney and his family members did not respond to requests for comment Friday.
Other conditions of Kelley's release were not made public.
Chicago police said this week that Kelley had taken hundreds of guns to the city over the past five years and sold them to street gangs. The department described him as "one of the main sources" of illegal firearms on the city's South Side, an area beset with gang-related gun violence.
Kelley was arrested Sunday after a four-month investigation by Chicago police and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Authorities said Kelley sold guns to a criminal informant on three occasions beginning in April.
Surveillance footage, phone conversations and cellular data connect Kelley to the sales, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. The court filing says a shotgun and six semi-automatic rifles were among the 21 guns that he sold the informant at a total cost of $14,750.
Kelley was charged with one count of selling firearms to a convicted felon and three counts of dealing firearms without a license across state lines.
He has not entered a plea in the case.
Kelley lived in Chicago before he moved to Arkansas about eight years ago, according to court filings. He began purchasing firearms at gun shows in Arkansas and driving roughly 700 miles to Chicago to sell them on the streets, the filings said.
Kelley and the criminal informant involved in his gun-trafficking case had been childhood friends in Chicago.
Kelley told the informant in a recorded phone call that he'd left the city to get away from gangs and violence but had found new problems in Arkansas, according to the affidavit. Hot Spring County court records show he has been convicted of third-degree battery and public intoxication.
The county issued an arrest warrant for Kelley in June. He had been wanted on a charge of harassment, a misdemeanor.
Weisman on Thursday ordered Kelley's attorney to file a status report on the warrant within 10 business days.
Metro on 09/09/2017