CHICAGO — A woman from the Chicago-area has been federally charged with conspiring to ‘straw purchase’ 19 handguns in Wisconsin on behalf of a convicted felon.

Sonya Brown, a 49-year-old resident of Oak Park, was charged with conspiracy to violate federal firearms laws, while the convicted felon — 49-year-old Simone Dunn — was charged with illegal possession of a firearm. Both were arrested Monday.

Federal investigators said Brown purchased the guns from licensed dealers at stores and gun shows in Wisconsin and falsely certified on federal forms that she was both a Wisconsin resident and the actual buyer of the firearms.

In reality, investigators said Brown purchased the guns on behalf of Dunn, with whom she lived with in the Chicago-area. Dunn was previously convicted of murder and several other felonies, and cannot lawfully be in possession of a firearm.

“Straw purchasers enable the unlawful possession of firearms and the violence that too often follows,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Morris Pasqual. “Our office is committed to stopping the flow of guns to individuals who cannot legally possess them.”

Brown is due for a detention hearing Wednesday at 11 a.m. in the US District Court of Northern Illinois, while Dunn has a detention hearing scheduled for Thursday at 1 p.m., where the United States Attorney’s Office will seek to have both defendants remain in detention pending trial.