09/14/2013 -- Reputed member of 4 Corner Hustlers given 70 years behind bars in murder of rival
"A Chicago judge has sentenced a reputed street-gang member to 70 years in prison for killing a rival in 2010.
Cook County prosecutors say Dennis 'Tony' Mahone belongs to the Four Corner Hustlers. The 25-year-old was convicted of first-degree murder after a bench trial."
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09/12/2013 -- Cooperation could get Latin King gang leader 23-year sentence instead of life term
"Federal attorneys want a 23-year prison term for a Highland man who testified in court about how he trafficked thousands of pounds of drugs and, as a leader of the local Latin Kings, ordered the killings of multiple people, including two rival gang leaders outside a Griffith restaurant in 2007.
Sentencing guidelines actually call for Alexander Vargas, who pleaded guilty to racketeering, drug trafficking and murdering two people, to serve a mandatory term of life in prison."
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09/10/2013 -- EC man accused in six killings to be tried separately in Imperial Gangsters racketeering case
"An East Chicago man who could face the death penalty if he is convicted of killing up to six people will be tried separately from his co-defendants in the Imperial Gangsters racketeering case, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
That means just eight defendants will go to trial on Oct. 21 in U.S. District Court in Hammond. U.S. District Judge Philip Simon granted Juan Briseno’s request to delay his trial until April 7 but ordered that he would not delay the trial for the rest of the defendants."
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09/07/2013 -- Lawyer says gang leader unreliable witness in alleged plot to kill fed
"A street gang leader turned unreliable government informant is at the heart of the case against a west suburban man accused of soliciting the murder of an FBI agent while in custody on terrorism charges, his attorney said Friday.
'He's a jailhouse snitch,' Thomas Anthony Durkin, who is representing Adel Daoud, said of the alleged informant after a brief court appearance. 'These are the most unreliable types of witnesses a courthouse has ever seen.' "
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08/30/2013 -- Rush takes Kirk on Englewood tour, with police escort
"Republican Sen. Mark Kirk joined Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush on a tour of crime-ravaged Englewood on Thursday as they vowed to overcome partisan differences to help bring jobs and federal dollars to the troubled South Side neighborhood.
Rush offered to take his colleague on the tour after Kirk called for the mass arrest of 18,000 Gangster Disciples gang members. Rush decried the statement as an 'upper-middle-class, elitist white-boy solution' to Chicago's crime problems, saying Kirk needed to be educated about economic issues driving the problem."
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08/21/2013 -- Uptown shooting along 'safe passage' route sparks community outrage
"As the first day of school quickly approaches, parents are concerned about the safety of their children after yet another shooting in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood on Monday evening, injured 5 people, four of them identified by police as having gang ties.
Chicago Police attribute the escalating violence to a long-running conflict among the Conservative Vice Lords, Gangster Disciples and Black P Stones street gangs. The Uptown Baptist Church, the scene of the latest shooting is at the center of turf wars between three rival gangs."
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08/20/2013 -- Sen. Mark Kirk Asks New ATF Director To Appoint Chicago-Based Anti-Gang Coordinator
"In his call to ATF Director Todd Jones to appoint an anti-gang coordinator during a Monday press conference, Kirk highlighted Illinois' need for a specific anti-gang strategy.
'The federal government does not give illegal guns and violent criminal gangs the attention they deserve,' Senator Kirk said in a release from his office. “Illinois leads the nation in per-capita gang members.
Joined by regional law enforcement officials like Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran, Waukegan Deputy Police Chief Mark McCormick and others, Kirk shared his letter to Jones, noting a conversation the two shared earlier this month shortly after Jones was confirmed."
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08/09/2013 -- Two Members of Regional Gang Get Combined 45 Years
"Two members of Chicago’s Latin Kings street gang were sentenced Thursday to a combined 45 years in federal prison for drug dealing and racketeering.
Their sentences were handed down in a federal courtroom in Hammond, Ind., just miles from a leafy suburban neighborhood which was home to a fellow gang member who helped lead the Latin Kings in Chicago by day, then cheered on his children in suburban Little League games at night."
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08/05/2013 -- Eight arrested during gang "memorial"
"Police say a street gang’s memorial efforts to a fallen comrade led to the arrest of eight men Saturday night.
The men were on the street about 8:50 p.m., shouting 'Vice Lords' and 'Bew Crew' for several minutes before blocking the entrance of Citgo, 379 S. Chicago St., according to police."
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08/02/2013 -- 14 face state, federal drug and gun charges
"Authorities say 14 suspects, including street gang members, face federal or state charges following an investigation by the FBI, Chicago police and other agencies. The U.S. Attorney's Office says five defendants are being charged under federal laws. Nine others are charged under state laws. They all involve both gun and narcotics offenses. At least some of the suspects were alleged members of the Latin Saints and spoke on wiretaps about how weapons could be acquired to help defend the street gang's supposed turf in Chicago."
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