Rangel had friends and aspirations in the music business, rubbing elbows with hip-hop heavyweights including DMX and Fat Joe, who, in a radio interview last August, called him a beautiful dude. A friend told police Rangel had two performers he was in negotiations with Dreamworks to record. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. A Latin King leader explains the history and aims of his "We both lost loved ones in this stupid gang war. Spann knew Simmons and told him hed pay him up to $30,000 for the job, according to Nunnery. Nunnery told him people were telling him that a guy was dead.. Colon was driven to Chicago in a van under tight security; he is being held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center downtown. Donell said no words were exchanged, he just began firing the pistol at dude, a detective wrote after questioning Simmons. Nunnery was convicted of murder and given 36 years in prison. The sentence was imposed Friday by U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle, who also ordered five years of supervised release after Garcias prison term ends. They sold powder cocaine twice a month to fund the "Nation Box," a kitty used by the regional gang hierarchy to buy guns and ammunition, and to pay funeral and attorney fees for gang members, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The four were among a total of 31 co-defendants who were indicted in September 2008 or charged in a superceding indictment in Oct. 2009. The operation also resulted in the seizure of what Chronister called a Latin Kings organizational chart and bylaws. ), First published on November 8, 2013 / 6:28 AM. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. Also seized were about 100 roosters that Chronister said were used in illegal cockfighting. Rockford, IL 61101, Chicago: (312) 353-5300 Authorities are looking for the other five defendants. There are many other Latino gangs in Chicago. While in federal custody, hes earned his GED and completed college-level classes. The government was represented by Assistant U.S. So he started looking for Rangel himself around Fullerton and Clybourn, near a recording studio Rangel had. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has become the first incumbent to lose a re-election bid in 40 years, as voters in Americas third biggest city expressed their fury over "I don't involve myself in drugs," said Colon, who has been incarcerated since 1971 and was convicted of heroin possession at the Stateville Correctional Center. Donell states that the dude was Kato, now known as Rudy Rangel, and this dude is the guy Bro Man was telling Donell to shoot at, the prosecutor wrote. Though Simmons and two others went to prison in Rangels death, some details of the high-profile killing rapper DMX later recorded a tribute to Rangel called AYo Kato never came out. Your Old Droog 05. | Sun-Times files. He told the informant, Martise tried to get him to merc the Puerto Rican stud, a detective wrote. There are very few of these copies in existence, and they are fiercely protected by the gang members, the sheriff said. Ware made a deal, pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit armed robbery, testifying against Simmons and getting an 11-year sentence. Tribune reporter Flynn McRoberts contributed to this article. Prosecutors said Shaun Harrison, 63, lived a double life as a leader of the drug gang while working at a public high school. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has become the first incumbent to lose a re-election bid in 40 years, as voters in Americas third biggest city expressed their fury over rising crime levels. | Chicago Police Department. And now Spann awaits another reckoning in court over the killing of Rudy Kato Rangel Jr., among other charges in the federal conspiracy case targeting the Four Corner Hustlers. Jose Guzman, a former Nation Enforcer in the 26th Street, or Little Village, faction, was sentenced to 35 years in prison, and Alphonso Chavez, the Inca, or leader of the gangs 31st and Drake faction, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Nunnery said Spann called that night, saying he hadnt heard from Simmons and was wondering what happened inside the barbershop. The following year, Colon was sentenced to at least 30 years in state prison for the murder. He said he ordered killings and killed on orders of higher-ups in the gang. WebThe largest Latino gang in Chicago, and perhaps in the United States, is the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation. After 25 years in state prison, Colon was set to be released in 1997. Ware and Nunnery were brought in on Nov. 14, and Simmons was arrested eight days later, initially in a separate incident. Among them were the Latin Kings, still one of the largest criminal organizations in the city and suburbs. As soon as the men in the car waiting outside the barbershop heard gunfire, Bro Man began shouting Get me out of this car, a detective wrote after interviewing Nunnery. An official website of the United States government. Jay NICE 06. In 2008, the FBI led an investigation that resulted in state and federal charges against 40 Latin Kings members and associates, including a dozen of the Zambrano co-defendants. A detectives sketch of the Rudy Rangel Jr. murder scene. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has become the first incumbent to lose a re-election bid in 40 years, as voters in Americas third biggest city expressed their fury over rising crime levels. "I am in solitary confinement for my own safety.". "As the CEO of this gang, Zambrano bears responsibility for its criminal acts.". Simmons then stated that he would talk to Det. 1998), Federal Prison Reform- Super Jail and Solitary Confinement Policy, Testing the Limits of Punishment; Unusually Severe Life Sentence vs. Society's Need for Safety, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Luis_Felipe_(gang_leader)&oldid=1120914583, People convicted of murder by the United States federal government, American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States federal government, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Life imprisonment plus 45 years without parole, This page was last edited on 9 November 2022, at 14:12. Alphonso Chavez, 26, the alleged leader of the gang's The indictment also alleges that gang members selling narcotics were forced to pay protection money to the organization. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The searches yielded nearly $1 million worth of drugs including 5 kilograms, or roughly 11 pounds, of fentanyl; 2 kilograms, or more than 4 pounds, each of cocaine and methamphetamine; a kilogram of heroin; and 2 pounds of marijuana, according to the sheriffs office. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS I am not here saying my son was an angel or that I am one of the mothers that act like he never did wrong, but whatever he did, he did not deserve to die like that, she said. Many of those charged and convicted in the trial were leaders of the 24 subunits of the gang that comprised the 26th Street Region in Little Village. Nunnery reached out to Spann, feared leader of the brutal Four Corner Hustlers, which claimed large swaths of the West Side. He is currently held at a federal prison in Kentucky. Gary Marx and Mark S. Warnick and Tribune Staff Writers. One transaction charged in the indictment alleges that Colon, Martinez, Herrera, and Diaz tried to sell approximately 3 kilograms of cocaine on Aug. 14, 1997. In the end, Lozano sentenced Highland resident Vargas to 23 years in prison with five years of supervised release. He forbade him to write or be visited by anyone except his lawyer and close relatives, of whom Felipe has none. We focused our intelligence efforts on identifying the hierarchy of this violent and extremely profitable narcotics enterprise, Chronister said. Donell Squeaky Simmons. So Rangel, a leader of the Latin Kings, one of Chicagos biggest street gangs, had been going several times a month to Nationwide Cutz, a barbershop operating out of a trailer near Roosevelt and Sacramento on the West Side. Lord Gino Colon, a former leader, is leading his Latin Kings from inside the Menard Correctional Center, but he is not the only one. "Reading this case was like reading a novel, a horror novel of all the bad things that occurred and the bad things human beings can do to each other.". Gang leaders outside of Illinoisfollowed rulesset by theChicago operation. In the spring of 2003, he drove to Lawrences Fish & Shrimp at Cermak and Canal to meet John, a Latin King whod told him hed sell him a stolen, diamond-laden Franck Muller watch worth $125,000 for $25,000. Finally, the judge said that he himself, rather than the Federal Bureau of Prisons, would control the case. Outside, a 21-year-old, recently paroled ex-con named Donell Squeaky Simmons walked through the alley to the shop, a red, white and blue Nets cap on his head and a pistol at his waist. Before going into federal protective custody, they spent time at Guzmans cartel fortress in Mexico, which she wrote about in the 2017 book Cartel Wives., Pedro Flores (left) and his twin brother Margarito Flores, once Chicagos biggest drug traffickers. Contrary to the stereotype of gangs, the Kings were formed to help their community get settled, teaching English and providing job opportunities to newcomers, helping them navigate Rangel fell, and Simmons said he kept firing, also hitting the barber in the right foot and the bodyguard in his left hand. An FBI investigation of the gang led to charges against 40 Latin King members and associates in 2008. His brother, Jose Vargas, who was not in a gang, was gunned down by the Latin Dragons in 2006, so Vargas directed his vengeance toward that gang, including ordering the 2007 murders of Latin Dragons leaders Joe Walsh and Gonzalo Diaz as they left a Griffith restaurant. And three of those runoffs would involve incumbents appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot over the last year. The gang subunits were found at each intersection along 26th Street from Fairfield Avenue west to Millard Avenue, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. During his tenure, Amaya discussed 25 shootings committed by his underlings while expressing pride at the consistency of violence. The highest-ranking leader of the Latin Kings street gang is behind bars. CHICAGO (AP) Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson will meet in a runoff to be the next mayor of Chicago after voters denied incumbent Lori Lightfoot a second term, issuing a rebuke to a leader who made history as head of the nations third-largest city.. Vallas, a former schools CEO backed by the police union, and Johnson, a Cook County The gang leaders also kept their victims in fear by enforcing what was called an "SOS" "shoot on sight" or "smash on sight" against any Latin Kings member who cooperated with law enforcement, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. Hes been reprimanded for threatening correctional officers, attacking one with his wheelchair and fashioning a shiv out of pens and medical tape for which he received minimal punishment. "I want you out clean so you don't have a monkey on your back and can come back to your family," Lozano said. Zambrano was the nationwide leader of the Latin Kings, which is based in Chicago and has about 10,000 members in Illinois alone, according to federal prosecutors. We got you, the prosecutor wrote after an interview with Simmons. Among those arrested in the operation were Omar Bravo, 32, and Fidencio Robles, 30. Vargas' attorney, Todd Pugh, said his client lived a double life, as a father of five children, union bricklayer and Little League coach, while he was involved with the drugs and violence of the gang. He will have to spend at least 85 percent of his 40-year sentence in custody, according to federal prosecutors. / CBS Chicago. Western Division The U.S. Attorneys Office argues that Colon is serving a sentence that is within the advisory guidelines range and fully justified given his role as leader of the Latin Kings. Prosecutors have also focused heavily on Colons murder conviction in state court, a tactic that Pissetzky called a red herring., Its just unconscionable, I think, to keep somebody in prison for a drug offense for that long of a time, Pissetzky said. Later that month, a grand jury approved charges against all four men of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, aggravated battery with a firearm, conspiracy to commit armed robbery and attempted armed robbery. Inside the trailer, Rangel was face-down, blood pooling around him, two gunshots to the back of his neck that left stippling residue indicating hed been shot up-close. History [ edit] The gang was founded in 1955 by Mexican youth who lived in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. (STMW) -- U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano admitted the task before him Thursday was difficult. The Latin Kings in Connecticut started in the state's prison system in the late 1980s. Nunnery had known Spann just a few months. "It demonstrates that the combined and coordinated efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement can assemble cases looking at disparate crimes such as selling false identification documents in Little Village and tie them all the way back to the gang leaders responsible for a broad array of criminal conduct. Also indicted were Charlie Alejandro, 31, who is believed to be living in Puerto Rico; Heriberto Sanchez, 45, address unknown; and Jose Souffront, 28, who is believed to be living in Springfield, Mass. "This verdict inflicts a serious blow to the to leaders of the Latin Kings," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said in a news release. Spann and Nunnery also were charged with soliciting murder, murder for hire and armed robbery. Its not clear when the judge overseeing the case will issue a ruling. NunneryStatement-1 by The Watchdogs on Scribd. Mr. In 2008, the FBI led an investigation that resulted in state and federal charges against 40 Latin Kings members and associates, including Zambrano and numerous co-defendants. He got in next to Spann. "In my mind, you deserve the rest of your life in prison or the death penalty," Lozano said. Well be right here waiting for you. . He had absolute power, one former Latin King said of Colons grip on the gang. Rockford: (815) 987-4444. Rudy Kato Rangel Jr., the Latin Kings gang leader who was shot to death on June 4, 2003. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (LECC), Latin Kings Leader Of Little Village Region Sentenced To 35 Years In Prison For RICO Conspiracy And Related Gang Crimes, Federal Indictment Charges Rockford Man With Arson, Three Chicago Men Charged with Odometer and Title Fraud. Vargas said he tried to get out of the gang twice, but he was threatened with harm both times. charges related to drug trafficking and murder after federal prosecutors alleged he oversaw the activities of some 10,000 Latin Kings members in Illinois, Judges nixes shareholder claims against McDonalds directors in sexual harassment case, US officials say no sign adversaries behind Havana syndrome, Teny Gross and Selwyn Rogers: Chicagos community intervention groups offer hope for reducing gun violence, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. The investigation that led to the convictions began in late 2006, agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which initially brought charges against 38 Latin Kings members and associates, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. THE WATCHDOGS: How Latin Kings leader Rudy Kato Rangel Jr., memorialized by DMX, at heart of what could be Chicago's biggest gang trial, was killed. In June 1997, at 18, Spann was charged with murder and aggravated discharge of a firearm but found not guilty, though his two co-defendants were convicted and each got 60-year prison sentences. He ascended the gang ranks while in prison, eventually becoming leader of Latin Kings and calling the shots from behind bars. As witnesses told the court, the WebGino Gustavo Colon, also known as "King Gino," was the leader of the Latin Kings, a street gang that originated in Chicago in the 1940s. Pissetzky filed a similar motion earlier this year, arguing for Colons release under the First Step Act, a reform bill signed into law in 2018 that aims decrease unnecessarily lengthy federal prison sentences. In the past, large-scale, high-profile federal indictments of street gangs on drug trafficking have focused on black street gangs like the Rukns, the Gangster Disciples and the Vice Lords; law enforcement officials often have described Latino gangs as more interested in rivalries and violence than narcotics. Have a question about Government Services? The original gang members were all related to one another. The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report. Zambrano, 52, was sentenced to 60 years in prison in January 2012. That investigation dubbed Operation 5K for Fifth Avenue and Karlov, where Spann lived led to dozens of murder convictions. U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle ordered on Friday that Garcia spend five years in supervised release after he finishes his prison term. Days later, Ware said he heard on the street that Kato had ripped some Mexicans off for some dope and that they paid someone to kill him. 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