ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) – A 20-year-old man gets prison time after he admitted to having multiple guns during a traffic stop in Rockford over the summer.
Azarius Curtis of Rockford was sentenced to six years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to one count of unlawful possession of a machine gun by a felon and three counts of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
On Aug. 23, 2025, Rockford police SCOPE officers were on patrol and stopped Curtis. Investigators said Curtis got out of the car and tried to run away from officers. He was eventually taken into custody.
When officers searched the vehicle, they found an open backpack that had four guns inside. The guns were described as:
- An assault-style rifle without a serial number
- A 9mm pistol without a serial number, commonly known as a “privately made firearm” or “ghost gun”
- A .45-caliber pistol
- Glock pistol with a machine gun conversion device, also known as a “switch” or “auto sear”
Prosecutors say the assault-style rifle, 9mm pistol and Glock pistol all had high-capacity ammunition magazines…