By KEILE CAMPBELL
Tribune Staff Reporter
kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

A WEALTHY American businessman who avoided a prison sentence in The Bahamas for firearm offences this week had faced similar charges in Chicago more than a decade ago after allegedly lying to authorities about owning a number of guns.

James Finkl, 62, former head of US-based Finkl Steel, was fined $1.4m in the Magistrate’s Court on Monday after admitting to bringing 14 guns and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition into The Bahamas aboard his yacht in Bimini last week.

The sentencing sparked outrage among some Bahamians, who note that firearm offences rarely result in just fines. One senior lawyer called the non-custodial sentence “highly irregular”.

Police said Finkl initially told officers he had only two guns locked in a safe. However, when officers searched the yacht, they discovered eight weapons and ammunition on board, along with a second cache of firearms hidden in a closet.

The incident is not the first time Finkl faced serious firearm allegations.

In 2010, Chicago police seized 36 guns — including four assault rifles — from his 14,000-square-foot River North mansion after receiving a tip that he had fired an assault rifle in his basement range.

He was arrested that May and charged with 36 counts of possessing unregistered firearms and four counts related to assault ammunition. Police at the time refused to release details of the arrest, and records did not indicate whether the weapon allegedly fired was found.

Despite investigators discovering an arsenal of vintage handguns, shotguns, and semi-automatic rifles, Finkl told police none of the weapons belonged to him — a claim later disproved when police confirmed he was the registered owner.

According to a January 2013 Chicago Sun-Times report, Finkl’s case “remained in limbo” nearly three years after the raid, with no charges formally pursued and city officials unable to explain why. The court file had reportedly disappeared after a judge granted a continuance in 2010, and the matter was not revived until the newspaper’s reporting prompted renewed investigations.

Then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel ordered a review into how the case was handled. The Sun-Times later reported that Finkl had business ties with police lieutenant Daniel J Shields, who worked at the same police station where Finkl was processed. Shields’ brother, Michael Shields, went on to lead Chicago’s powerful police union, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No 7.

The paper also revealed that Finkl co-owned a firm called Jetty Security with Shields and another officer, Michael Malaniuk, although Shields’ attorney claimed the partnership had ended a year before.

In May 2013, Cook County Judge Clarence L Burch issued a warrant for Finkl’s arrest after he failed to appear in court. A City Hall lawyer told the court that officials had tried to serve him, but the judge concluded Finkl appeared to be avoiding notification.

By March that year, The Sun-Times reported that Finkl had established another security company, Shadow 300 LLC, operating out of his home and employing current and retired Chicago police officers.