Just days after the family of Dexter Reed, who was tragically killed by Chicago police during an encounter with law enforcement following a traffic stop, his brother Julius was arrested in a separate incident for allegedly possessing a firearm.
Although a proposed settlement of $1.25 million was discussed for the civil lawsuit filed by Reed’s family, the Chicago City Council ultimately rejected this offer, leaving the case unresolved. Meanwhile, Julius Reed recently faced his legal challenges head-on, pleading guilty to a felony gun charge and receiving a two-year probation sentence, according to court documents.
The controversy surrounding the Reed family continued during a high-profile event, the Juice WRLD Day concert at the United Center on November 30, 2023. Chicago police officers on patrol in the concert area noticed smoke emanating from a white Dodge Durango parked nearby. Observing a silhouette of a passenger using a rolled cigar, the officers suspected drug use inside the vehicle, commonly referred to as “hotboxing.”
Upon stopping the Durango, the officers reported a heavy cloud of smoke with the distinctive smell of burnt cannabis wafting out of the driver’s window. Julius Reed, the car’s registered owner, was identified as the driver. During a subsequent search for narcotics, officers allegedly discovered six containers of suspected cannabis that did not bear the required dispensary labels.
Furthermore, a search of the vehicle’s door panels uncovered a stolen 9-millimeter Ruger handgun from the driver’s side and a loaded Glock pistol from the passenger’s side. Julius Reed allegedly admitted to smoking cannabis prior to attending the concert and noted that he had been denied a gun license due to a previous domestic violence incident.
In a recent court appearance, Judge William Gamboney sentenced Reed to two years of probation after he pleaded guilty to the charge of aggravated unlawful use of an unloaded firearm. As part of his sentence, Reed is required to submit DNA to a law enforcement database and complete community service through a sheriff’s office program. In exchange for his plea, seven additional felony charges were dropped.
Throughout the duration of his legal proceedings, Chicago police recorded two additional arrests of Reed, one on Independence Day for possession of cannabis, fireworks, and open alcohol in his vehicle, and another on August 17 for similar infractions. Consequently, he received a concurrent probation sentence for one of those offenses, with the other charge being dismissed.
This isn’t Julius Reed’s first run-in with the law; he was previously found not guilty of illegal firearm possession in 2019. More recently, he was arrested during a protest on April 9, 2024, which followed the release of body-camera footage depicting his brother’s incident with police. Although he was charged with misdemeanor battery and resisting arrest, those charges were ultimately dropped three weeks later.
Tim Hecke is the managing partner at CWBChicago. With entry into the business at KMOX—a renowned news radio station in St. Louis—he later honed his skills at broadcasting stations across Minneapolis, Chicago, and New York City. Tim established syndicated radio news and content services that catered to every one of America’s top 100 radio markets before becoming CWBChicago’s managing partner in 2019.
For inquiries, Tim can be reached at tim@cwbchicago.com.
