The superintendent of Chicago’s 45th Ward has been charged with gun possession and official misconduct for attempting to sell a machine gun to an undercover ATF agent and a confidential informant while clocked in to his job with the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation, authorities said.
Ward boss Charles Sikanich was arrested Monday after being indicted on the charges last week, court records show. As he was being arrested, he “repeatedly asked to contact” 45th Ward Ald. Jim Gardiner before he was placed into custody, according to his arrest report.
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Assistant Attorney General Jonas Harger said in Cook County court Tuesday that the ATF got a tip from a confidential informant in February 2020 that Sikanich owned an MP 40 machine gun and was interested in selling it. Sikanich asked the informant to find him a buyer, Harger said.
A meeting was scheduled with Sikanich, the informant and an undercover ATF agent, at which they all tried to negotiate a price for the illegal gun, authorities said. Time sheet records show he was on the clock at his Streets and Sanitation job during the time he allegedly was set to discuss the gun’s sale.
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Some months later, agents confronted Sikanich, who led them to a “secret compartment” in his basement where a black duffel bag containing the gun was recovered, Harger said.
Sikanich’s attorney, Blaire Dalton, said in court the gun was a family heirloom, passed down from Sikanich’s grandfather. It dates from World War II’s Battle of the Bulge, Dalton said. The gun was “plugged” and unusable, she said in court, noting that the gun was seized in August but Sikanich was only charged this month.
In response, Harger noted that it took the ATF less than an hour to render the gun usable, and it was still capable of firing shots. Sikanich “knew the gun was illegal and intended to sell it for an increased price because of illegality of the gun,” he said.
Information about Sikanich’s bond was not immediately available.
The charges are just the latest court proceedings for Sikanich. He and Gardiner are being sued in federal court by a man who claims Gardiner had him harassed, intimidated, and ultimately falsely arrested after he’d picked up a cellphone that Sikanich had inadvertently left at a 7-Eleven.
Gardiner is also under federal criminal investigation involving his conduct in office, including whether he retaliated against constituents for political purposes, sources have told the Tribune.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
