A Chicago special education teacher sold guns and ammo to gangbangers and other felons, authorities alleged this week.
Brent Turpin, 53, was charged with two federal weapons offenses, each carrying up to 15 years in prison if convicted according to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Turpin was charged with one count each of conspiring to provide a firearm and ammunition to a known felon and disposing of ammunition to a known felon, after the teacher gave ammunition to a perp who was secretly cooperating with the FBI, authorities said.
Turpin is the guardian of a juvenile with gang ties who is a close friend of the informant.
The juvenile is awaiting trial on reckless homicide charges, and authorities believe he helped Turpin get his foot in the door in the illegal gun trade, and was involved in a gun store robbery in May.
The charges don’t allege that Turpin gave the informant any guns, but a federal prosecutor believes he’s illegally dealt firearms and ammunition on multiple occasions.
The probe also showed that a teen boy was shot and wounded in the teacher’s basement last Thanksgiving weekend, Assistant US Attorney Ankur Srivastava said.
Following his arrest Tuesday morning, Turpin admitted he never reported the shooting and instead drove the 15-year-old to a nearby hospital and dropped him off outside.
FBI agents found a mattress with a bullet hole in Turpin’s basement Tuesday, they say is “consistent” with the circumstances of the shooting.
Turpin taught at Kershaw Magnet School in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, an area that has one the city’s highest rates of gun violence.
The teacher’s attorney denied the charges and asked that his client be allowed to return to work at the elementary school.
US Attorney Srivastava called his actions “unfathomable” and asked that he be barred from contact with any minors while his case is pending.
Turpin was fired two hours after US Magistrate Judge David Weisman released him on his own recognizance.