A Cook County man was sentenced on April 14 to twenty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections after being found guilty of armed habitual criminal and related weapons charges, according to DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin. Curtis Lyons, age 41 and formerly of Maywood, received his sentence from Judge Ann Celine O’Hallaren Walsh following a guilty verdict delivered in January after a three-day bench trial.
The case highlights law enforcement efforts to address gun violence and illegal firearms possession by convicted felons. According to authorities, Lyons was previously convicted of armed robbery and aggravated battery with a firearm—both classified as Class X felonies.
Police responded on January 25, 2023, to reports of shots fired near Chatham and Plymouth in Villa Park. Officers found shell casings at the scene and later determined that Lyons had arranged a drug sale while carrying a modified Glock handgun capable of fully automatic fire. After obtaining a search warrant for a residence on Cornell Avenue, police recovered two handguns—including one with an automatic switch—a drum magazine containing eight rounds, and approximately $7,000 in cash. Lyons was taken into custody without bond shortly thereafter and has remained at the DuPage County Jail since then.
“Without giving a second thought to his status as a convicted felon, which prohibits him from legally possessing a firearm, Mr. Lyons thumbed his nose at the law and illegally armed himself with a machine gun before heading out on January 25, 2023,” Berlin said. “This type of disregard for our criminal justice system must be met with serious consequences. I commend the Villa Park Police Department whose outstanding work led to the removal of an extremely dangerous illegal weapon from our streets and a guilty verdict for a convicted felon whose contempt for the rule of law will now be met with a twenty-year prison sentence. I thank Assistant State’s Attorneys Sara Henley, Sean Kinsella and Michael Paup for their work in holding Mr. Lyons responsible for his incredibly dangerous actions.”
Lyons will be required to serve at least eighty-five percent of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
In other developments within DuPage County during the same period: The average student-to-teacher ratio across local schools was thirteen-to-one during the 2022-23 academic year among more than 142,000 students enrolled countywide according to data from the Illinois State Board of Education. Teacher absenteeism reached thirty-eight point three percent locally compared with thirty-five point six percent statewide as reported by state education officials. Among individual schools: York Community High School had the highest number of white students enrolled; Metea Valley High School recorded the largest enrollment among multiracial students; Westmore Elementary School had ten Pacific Islander students—the most among area schools; Addison Trail High School saw enrollment peak among Hispanic students—all based on statistics from the Illinois State Board of Education.
