(EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill., AP) — A man who authorities say was a gang leader in East St. Louis, Illinois, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for multiple drug and weapons offenses.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/230Sfu5 ) that 40-year-old Ayiko Paulette was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court to conspiring to distribute narcotics, running a drug house, possessing firearms as a felon, interstate racketeering and conspiring to obstruct justice.

Police say they recovered weapons at a house in East St. Louis that had been the scene of a gang shootout in March 2013.

Investigators say Paulette was a leader of the Waverly Crips gang until 2014. They say that while he was in jail, he directed associates to intimidate a witness.

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This story has been corrected to show that the incident occurred in Illinois, not Missouri.

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com