Editor's note: Gary, don't forget about the racketeering in the Probate Court of Cook County, enabling "Elder Cleansing" by the Judicial-Nursing Home Complex. Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks.com
Gang hit with sweeping federal racketeering charges
U.S. attorney's office charges 9, including alleged leader
Acting U.S. Attorney Gary Shapiro, center, is joined by Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, left, Thursday as he announces federal racketeering charges filed against nine alleged leaders of the Hobos street gang. (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune / September 25, 2013)
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Wilbert Moore was gunned down outside a South Side barbershop seven years ago by a violent street gang known as the Hobos because he had been secretly cooperating with law enforcement, authorities say.
On Thursday, authorities announced a crackdown on the gang with sweeping federal racketeering charges against its leader and eight other members for everything from narcotics trafficking to homicide, including the January 2006 slaying of Moore.
The takedown comes amid a recent spate of gun violence that has shone another embarrassing national spotlight on Chicago's seemingly intractable gang warfare. Politicians ranging from U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk to Mayor Rahm Emanuel were quick to issue public statements praising the investigation by federal authorities and Chicago police.
At a news conference, Acting U.S. Attorney Gary Shapiro found himself somewhat on the defensive when a reporter suggested that federal prosecutors weren't doing enough to combat the gang violence in Chicago. Shapiro declared that several hundred gang members have faced federal gun- and drug-related charges since 2006, cases he said the news media have largely ignored in favor of more high-profile public corruption.
"Let's be honest, you guys don't cover those (gang) cases, particularly in federal court," Shapiro said. "I don't see you here. I don't see stories about them, and that's fine. I know there are other things that are perhaps of more interest."
Unlike many federal cases targeting gang leaders, the indictment against the Hobos alleged four of the defendants — Paris Poe, Gabriel Bush, Arnold Council and Byron Brown — directly took part in a total of five previously unsolved gang-related slayings, making them potentially eligible for the death penalty. Another defendant was charged with soliciting a sixth murder.
Among those charged with racketeering conspiracy was the alleged Hobos' leader, Gregory "Bowlegs" Chester, 36, of Richton Park. Police and prosecutors described the gang he ran as a tight-knit crew that originated in the former Robert Taylor Homes and banded together from factions of the much larger Gangster Disciples and Black Disciples street gangs.
"The Hobos were an all-purpose gang," Shapiro told reporters. "They dealt all the major drugs from cocaine to marijuana, from crack to heroin."
But it was the crew's penchant for violence against anyone who posed a threat to their operation that made the Hobos especially dangerous, Shapiro said. The bloodshed has had a chilling effect on witnesses who were often "justifiably reluctant" to cooperate with authorities because it "could mean a death sentence on the South Side," he said.
According to court records, that is exactly the fate that befell Keith Daniels, 27, another Hobos informant who was ambushed and killed in April outside his Dolton home, where authorities had moved him for his own safety.
While Daniels' slaying was not included in Thursday's indictment, court records show his cooperation helped lead to the arrest of Chester on drug conspiracy charges. Just days after authorities unsealed Chester's charges — the criminal complaint did not name Daniels but gave details that made his identification possible — Daniels was shot 25 times by a masked gunman in his driveway, court records show.
"It was a cold-blooded murder in front of his family, in front of his children, (ages) one, four and six, who saw their father getting killed," a transcript quoted Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Otlewski as saying at a detention hearing for Chester in April. "Their father had been killed for doing the right thing, helping out the government putting together a larger RICO and heroin trafficking case against the defendant."
A witness has identified the gunman as Poe, according to court records. Poe, who at the time was on house arrest on unrelated charges, had cut off his ankle bracelet a short time before Daniels was killed. He was arrested in Wisconsin a few weeks later after an intense manhunt, records show.
Poe has not been charged in Daniels' slaying. Asked about the connection Thursday, Shapiro said, "All I could say is that this investigation is continuing."
Poe and Council were charged Thursday in connection with the slaying of Moore, the other informant. According to court records, Poe opened fire at a fleeing Moore from a car driven by Council. The gang members arrived at the scene after being tipped to Moore being in a barbershop near 43rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.
jmeisner@tribune.com
jgorner@tribune.com
On Thursday, authorities announced a crackdown on the gang with sweeping federal racketeering charges against its leader and eight other members for everything from narcotics trafficking to homicide, including the January 2006 slaying of Moore.
The takedown comes amid a recent spate of gun violence that has shone another embarrassing national spotlight on Chicago's seemingly intractable gang warfare. Politicians ranging from U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk to Mayor Rahm Emanuel were quick to issue public statements praising the investigation by federal authorities and Chicago police.
At a news conference, Acting U.S. Attorney Gary Shapiro found himself somewhat on the defensive when a reporter suggested that federal prosecutors weren't doing enough to combat the gang violence in Chicago. Shapiro declared that several hundred gang members have faced federal gun- and drug-related charges since 2006, cases he said the news media have largely ignored in favor of more high-profile public corruption.
"Let's be honest, you guys don't cover those (gang) cases, particularly in federal court," Shapiro said. "I don't see you here. I don't see stories about them, and that's fine. I know there are other things that are perhaps of more interest."
Unlike many federal cases targeting gang leaders, the indictment against the Hobos alleged four of the defendants — Paris Poe, Gabriel Bush, Arnold Council and Byron Brown — directly took part in a total of five previously unsolved gang-related slayings, making them potentially eligible for the death penalty. Another defendant was charged with soliciting a sixth murder.
Among those charged with racketeering conspiracy was the alleged Hobos' leader, Gregory "Bowlegs" Chester, 36, of Richton Park. Police and prosecutors described the gang he ran as a tight-knit crew that originated in the former Robert Taylor Homes and banded together from factions of the much larger Gangster Disciples and Black Disciples street gangs.
"The Hobos were an all-purpose gang," Shapiro told reporters. "They dealt all the major drugs from cocaine to marijuana, from crack to heroin."
But it was the crew's penchant for violence against anyone who posed a threat to their operation that made the Hobos especially dangerous, Shapiro said. The bloodshed has had a chilling effect on witnesses who were often "justifiably reluctant" to cooperate with authorities because it "could mean a death sentence on the South Side," he said.
According to court records, that is exactly the fate that befell Keith Daniels, 27, another Hobos informant who was ambushed and killed in April outside his Dolton home, where authorities had moved him for his own safety.
While Daniels' slaying was not included in Thursday's indictment, court records show his cooperation helped lead to the arrest of Chester on drug conspiracy charges. Just days after authorities unsealed Chester's charges — the criminal complaint did not name Daniels but gave details that made his identification possible — Daniels was shot 25 times by a masked gunman in his driveway, court records show.
"It was a cold-blooded murder in front of his family, in front of his children, (ages) one, four and six, who saw their father getting killed," a transcript quoted Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Otlewski as saying at a detention hearing for Chester in April. "Their father had been killed for doing the right thing, helping out the government putting together a larger RICO and heroin trafficking case against the defendant."
A witness has identified the gunman as Poe, according to court records. Poe, who at the time was on house arrest on unrelated charges, had cut off his ankle bracelet a short time before Daniels was killed. He was arrested in Wisconsin a few weeks later after an intense manhunt, records show.
Poe has not been charged in Daniels' slaying. Asked about the connection Thursday, Shapiro said, "All I could say is that this investigation is continuing."
Poe and Council were charged Thursday in connection with the slaying of Moore, the other informant. According to court records, Poe opened fire at a fleeing Moore from a car driven by Council. The gang members arrived at the scene after being tipped to Moore being in a barbershop near 43rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.
jmeisner@tribune.com
jgorner@tribune.com
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