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Friday, March 29, 2024

Deported Chinese man might be selling guns online from Logan

Guns

LOGAN – A Chinese national who was deported following a million-dollar crime spree in Chicago might be living in Logan and selling guns on the internet.

Jicheng “Kevin” Liu was deported earlier this year to Shanghai. That followed his 2012 arrest in Chicago following his alleged theft of a baby stroller. The woman who it was stolen from saw a Craigslist post for a similar stroller, and she set up a time to buy it back. That led to Liu being arrested for petty theft.

But that woman and her family soon were being harassed. According to official documents and media coverage, food was delivered to their home at all hours of the night, bills for pornographic magazines arrived in the mail and male prostitutes showed up at their door. The woman also received extortion threats and death threats online, and her business was bombarded with negative reviews, according to documents.

Another victim received a visit from Homeland Security after Liu allegedly made death threats to President Obama in the victim’s name, a media report claimed.

Chicago police officers who had arrested Liu also were targets of harassment as well, according to media reports. One was accused online of selling drugs, and another was accused online of molesting children.

Meanwhile, a string of thefts on Chicago’s north side continued. A man, who authorities say was Liu, was stealing delivered packages from doors. The trail led police to Liu’s townhouse, which was packed with more than 300 packages, stolen bikes, golf clubs and more. He also had 87 garage door openers. The goods in his townhouse was equivalent to four truckloads and totaled about $1 million, documents show.

Liu was released in February from the Illinois state prison system into custody of the federal Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson asking that Liu be removed from the country immediately because of the nature of his crimes.

“ICE should immediately prioritize his removal from the United States, and [U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services] should carefully consider the concerns of Liu’s victims,” Kirk wrote.

Liu was deported in March in custody of two federal agents.

But recently, an email address linked to Liu has been used in ads on Backpage to sell guns. Some of those ads list a mailing address that is at a UPS store in Logan. Other emails linked to Liu have been used in recent months and have used that same Logan address for mailings.

At least one Backpage ad from Detroit lists “Glock, Uzi, Smith Wesson KSG, VP9” for sale in new or almost new condition. The ad also states that “serial numbers can be erased upon request,” and that the seller only accepts bitcoin as payment “for mutual protection.” It also includes the Logan UPS address.

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