Man who threatened Rockford WingStop employees with gun sentenced to 10.5 years

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — A man with a gun who threatened employees at a Rockford WingStop has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison.

According to the U.S. Justice Department, in 2022, Steven Baxter, 40, of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, was visiting Rockford and went into the restaurant, where he got into an argument with employees over his order.

Authorities said that during the altercation, he threatened employees and displayed the gun, which he held at his hip before leaving.

Later, he was stopped on I-90 in Kane County and was found in possession of 2 handguns. Since he is a previously convicted felon, Baxter is legally prohibited from possessing firearms.

He pleaded guilty to the charge of illegal firearm possession earlier this year and was sentenced to 8 and a half years in federal prison in court on Monday.

The Justice Department said Baxter was on parole for an unrelated firearms conviction. Because of that, he was sentenced to an additional 22 months in prison, bringing his sentence to a total of ten and a half years.

“It is highly concerning to the government that defendant has shown a pattern of not only illegal possession of firearms as a felon, but a pattern of brandishing and threatening people with firearms in moments of anger or rage,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodora A. Anderson said at the sentencing. “Defendant’s history shows a disrespect for the law, for the safety of the community, and a disregard for court orders.”