Illinois man sentenced in federal stolen gun case out of Columbia

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An Illinois man was sentenced on Tuesday in a federal stolen gun case from Columbia, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Steven Ray Dennis, 35, was sentenced to 10 years in prison without parole during a hearing at the federal courthouse in Jefferson City, the release says. He pleaded guilty in 2020 to having a stolen gun.

The release says Columbia police were told by private security at a local bar that a man in a Chicago Bulls hat and jacket was going to grab a gun from his vehicle. Police found him and he ran away when police asked if he had any guns, the release says.

He was arrested and police found a gun in the jacket, the release says.

The release says after Dennis pleaded guilty, he “failed to report and was a fugitive until he was arrested in the Chicago area in January 2025.”