Ald. Former Gardiner Ward boss pleads guilty to trying to sell antique machine gun to undercover agent

Ald’s former city worker and assistant. Jim Gardiner pleaded guilty Thursday to a single weapons charge after trying to sell a World War II-era machine gun to an undercover federal agent in 2020.

Charles Sikanich, 41, was working as both the superintendent of Gardiner’s 45th Precinct and an employee of the Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation when he planned to sell an MP-40 fully automatic machine gun while on the clock.

Sikanich has long maintained that the gun was brought home by his grandfather as a military trophy and, as far as the family knows, it was not in working order. But after delays in the case, Sikanich pleaded guilty to unlawful use of a weapon in a last-minute deal with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office that allowed him to avoid a trial that was scheduled to begin Thursday before Judge Kenneth Vadas.

An undated photo of Charles Sikanich's grandfather in Europe during World War II. The gun shown in the photo is not the weapon that Sikanych's grandfather brought home from the war. — An undated photo of Charles Sikanich’s grandfather in Europe during World War II. The gun shown in the photo is not the weapon that Sikanych’s grandfather brought home from the war.

Under the terms of the deal, the conviction will be expunged from Sikanich’s record if he successfully completes a diversion program for first-time gun offenders.

Sikanich rejected the deal when it was first offered in September, an assistant attorney general said in court Thursday, when the trial was set to begin. Prosecutors offered to reduce the charge — from a Class 2 felony to a Class 4 — and agreed to 18 months of probation as part of a diversion and community service program.

Prosecutors said that if convicted of the first count of Article 2, Sikiyanich would face a minimum sentence of three years in prison.

Sikanich and his attorney, Jim McKay, said they were ready for trial but decided to reconsider after prosecutors indicated a plea deal was still on the table and Vadas told them he would let Sikanich choose where to do his community service.

The judge said the court system has a hard time finding places that will work with defendants sentenced to community service.

After a break to discuss the offer with his attorney, Sikanich entered a guilty plea, and prosecutors agreed to further reduce his probation to 12 months.

Vadas sentenced Sikanich to 50 hours of community service, which Sikanich said he would complete with St. Tartsis in Jefferson Park.

Under the state’s program for first-time gun owners, Sikanich’s criminal record will be expunged if he successfully completes the program and does not commit any new crimes.

In 2021, federal authorities raided Sikianich’s home and seized several weapons, including an assault rifle, but he was not formally charged until the following year. In his arguments in court, McKay compared the machine gun to a “paperweight” because it had long been inert.

McKay said it belonged to Sikanich’s “hero” grandfather, who served in World War II, and described the gun as a “military trophy” and “hanger” that Gen. Douglas MacArthur allowed veterans to bring home.

It was registered with the Internal Revenue Service in the 1960s because the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives didn’t exist yet, McKay said, noting that Sikianich’s mother tried to register it again in 2015.

Prosecutors have disputed that the gun could have been easily reactivated, an issue expected to be a central argument in the trial, with both the defense and prosecution planning to call expert witnesses to testify about the gun’s functionality.

After the hearing, McKay said he was confident his client would have prevailed in court. But he admitted that he advised Sikanich to take the deal to avoid any chance of going to prison.

Sikanych refused to comment, only saying that he considers his persecution to be politically motivated.

When the charges were laid, Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the attempt to “illegally sell a dangerous firearm like a machine gun shows, at best, an indifference to public safety. However, to do so on government time, using public property, shows a shocking disregard for the people that public servants have pledged to serve.”

A spokesman for Raul did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision to offer the deal on Thursday.