State’s attorney candidate wants federal program to address gun violence

[August 15, 2024]  (The Center Square) – A Cook County state’s attorney candidate is drawing attention to a federal program amid 1,865 people being shot in the county just this year.

Bob Fioretti is running as a Republican for the office of Cook County State's Attorney, the office held by Kim Foxx. Foxx announced she was not seeking reelection.

Fioretti suggested that implementing a federal program called "Project Exile" could help with the problem where criminals continue to commit crimes from within state prisons. Sending criminals who operate gangs to federal prison instead of a state prison may just stop the Chicago “carnage,” according to Fioretti.

"This Project Exile was big in Virginia and it dropped the flow of illegal guns from coming in and we [in Cook county] will prosecute to the fullest those who have illegal guns in their possession and those guns. We will not coddle violent criminals with guns,” said Fioretti. “I am going to work with the federal government and in big gun cases we will defer to them to make sure we get the maximum penalties on people that have guns and are committing crimes in this county.”

Project Exile is a federal program that shifts the prosecution of illegal gun possession offenses to federal court, where they carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison, rather than in state court.

Restore Justice policy manager James Swansey, who served 28 years in the Department of Corrections, said Illinois already has extreme firearm penalty enhancement.

“You automatically get 15 years for just possessing a firearm during the commission of certain felonies, you get 20 years for discharging that same weapon and if someone is hurt or loses their life you can get 25 years to life,” said Swansey.

Swansey said penalty enhancements do not work and drive sentences up. He said the current firearm sentencing laws can take a 15-year sentence and turn it into a 30-year sentence.

Fioretti said he plans to address the exodus of prosecutors under Foxx’s leadership but also he wants to work with the federal government to figure out a way to combat gang activity.

Pastor David Lowery Jr., a pastor with Universal Baptist Church in Harvey, Illinois, stands along side Republican Cook County State’s Attorney candidate Bob Fioretti and Mark Carter of Chicago during a news conference in Milwaukee outside the Republican National Convention
Greg Bishop | The Center Square

"It’s unfortunate that we haven’t worked with the federal government. They have taken some cases in the past. We are probably going to appoint a liaison from my soon-to-be office to work on those issues [prisoners operating and continuing gang activity from within the state prisons,]” said Fioretti.

Fioretti is running against Democratic candidate EIleen O’Niell Burke in the general election. The Center Square reached out to Burke for comment about implementing federal programs like Project Exile and a member from her team said she was “not available for this.”

Project Exile was named for the idea that if the police catch a criminal with a gun in a crime, the criminal has forfeited their right to remain in this community, will face immediate federal prosecution and stiff mandatory federal prison sentences. The program was designed to address gang violence.

Swansey said his organization believes in fixing the problem before individuals land themselves in prison.

"To change, you need to invest in what works. You want to deal in community intervention and want to deal with the things that lead an individual to want to possess a firearm,” said Swansey. “It shouldn’t always be catered toward the punitive aspect of things, longer sentences and more time to not deter crime.”

Fioretti said 1,865 people being shot in Cook County should outrage politicians. Fioretti also suggested criminal justice reform organizations do a lot of good for the county but there should be accountability for how the federal and state governments award taxpayer dollars to these organizations. Illinois taxpayers are spending more than $180 million for violence intervention and summer youth jobs programs in the fiscal year 2025 budget.