The Chicago police investigation that ultimately targeted Wicked Town was widening in 2017 when the ATF first got involved, the case agent told the Tribune, looking at some of the ballistics leads such as analyzing shell casings from crime scenes and tracing any guns that had been recovered.Ībove all, the agent said, what the ATF could offer was time and expertise to police detectives who were often overworked and “triaging” investigations as murders and shootings continued to pile up. McCarthy said it hopefully also makes other gang members “think twice” when it comes to picking up a gun. His team leader, Supervisory Special Agent Jason McCarthy, said that beyond just the numbers, “people on the street and civilians in those neighborhoods seeing the federal partners work hand in hand with the local partners makes an impact out there.” “It shows a little bit of the impact these cases can have,” the ATF case agent said. “Instead of running around and going from this small case to another small case where violators we are arresting are going to be right back on the street … in a case like this, they’re going away for a long time and it’s going to make a definite impact,” said Will Panoke, the assistant special agent in charge of the ATF’s Chicago bureau.Īccording to Chicago Police Department statistics, the 15th District, which encompasses Wicked Town’s stronghold of Leamington Avenue and Ferdinand Street in the Austin neighborhood, there had been 32 killings this year through Tuesday, down 26% from the same time frame in the previous year and well off the 64 homicides in the district in 2020. Meanwhile, the ATF agent and his supervisors told the Tribune that while racketeering cases are by no means a “magic solution” to the city’s seemingly endless cycle of gun violence, shootings and homicides in the area where Wicked Town operated are down significantly since the case was brought. Ten others pleaded guilty to various roles in the gang, with some who admitted to committing murders sentenced to more than 35 years behind bars. Spann, 45, faces mandatory life in prison when he’s sentenced next month. Many of their associates who cut deals still face 20 to 30 years under the terms of their plea agreements. Lee, 40, faces mandatory life in prison while Benson, 30, could receive up to life behind bars. The results, at least in the length of prison sentences, have so far spoken for themselves. 4, 2020.ĭuane DeVries, the Chicago police’s deputy chief of counterterrorism, said after the Wicked Town verdict that partnerships between the police and feds allow them to target specific individuals responsible for so much of the violence and get a “long term effect, instead of just a quick hit.” In May, four reputed members of the Goonie Boss faction of the Gangster Disciples are scheduled to face a jury on charges of racketeering conspiracy alleging they committed 10 killings and six attempted murders during three-year reign of terror in the Englewood community.Īnd in October, five reputed members of the South Side’s O-Block gang are set for trial on similar RICO-related murder charges, alleging they opened fire on rapper FBG Duck, whose real name was Carlton Weekly, as he stood in line outside a Gold Coast clothing store on Aug. Meanwhile, two other major gang racketeering cases are set to go to trial next year. Last year, a similar case against the Four Corner Hustlers, one of the key rivals of the Traveling Vice Lords and affiliates like Wicked Town, went to trial at the same courthouse and had a similar outcome.Īfter eight weeks of testimony, a federal jury convicted Labar “Bro Man” Spann, the longtime leader of the Four Corner Hustlers, of racketeering and VICAR charges alleging he directed the violent street gang in a string of robberies, extortion and four murders over the course of two decades, including the infamous contract killing of Latin Kings boss Rudy “Kato” Rangel. attorney’s office ultimately took the death penalty off the table in the Wicked Town case, the prospect of that punishment came up repeatedly in testimony of cooperators who decided to flip against their colleagues, despite the gang’s strict “no-snitch” policy. Maximum penalties for those cases vary depending on the alleged violent crime, but defendants convicted of a murder that occurred after 1994 can be subject to the death penalty under the VICAR statute.
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