Reputed chief enforcer of the Gangster Disciples in the Chicago area has been ordered to spend 40 years in prison for illegally purchasing guns

Reputed chief enforcer of the Gangster Disciples in the Chicago area has been ordered to spend 40 years in prison for illegally purchasing guns in in northwest Indiana. Bernard Ellis, 41, of Country Club Hills, seemed surprised by the long prison term handed down Monday.“You’re giving me 40 years for guns?” Ellis exclaimed, insisting he never killed anyone.He told the judge the sentence was “crazy” and said he’ll appeal. But U.S. District Judge Robert L. Miller Jr. said the sentence was justified, calling Ellis an “armed career criminal.”In May, a federal judge in Chicago had sentenced Ellis to seven years in prison for possession of firearms by a felon. That judge didn’t give Ellis the maximum 20-year sentence then, in part, he said, because he found “redeeming” qualities in him.In 2004, Chicago police recovered a gun from Ellis after arresting him on charges he beat his girlfriend and her daughter. Tests linked the gun to a killing earlier that year.
But Ellis hasn’t been charged in that slaying, which remains under investigation.