A Northwest Side man is accused of launching a lucrative street-level drug operation in grocery store parking lots and selling a firearm to an undercover officer, beginning just one day after he pleaded guilty in an unrelated felony case and was given a chance to keep the charge off his record.
John A. Gonzalez, 28, is now facing armed violence and ten felony narcotics charges after prosecutors said he repeatedly sold cocaine, ecstasy, and other drugs to undercover cops in the parking lots of two Northwest Side grocery stores before eventually selling an officer a gun.
The scheme allegedly began on November 18, the day after Gonzalez pleaded guilty to felony theft and received 12 months of court supervision. That arrangement, under which charges can be wiped from a defendant’s record, was only hours old when Gonzalez allegedly sold nearly $2,000 worth of cocaine to an undercover officer in the parking lot of Tony’s Fresh Market, 4137 North Elston Avenue, in Irving Park…