Nine Arrested in Englewood Drug Probe

Nine Chicago residents were arrested yesterday in a coordinated operation, culminating a three-year investigation targeting illegal drug sales in and around the Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s Southside. Those arrested were charged in separate indictments returned by a federal grand jury and in a criminal complaint filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

The arrests and charges were announced today by Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Garry F. McCarthy, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (CPD); and Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

All of those arrested were taken into custody yesterday at various times and locations in and around Chicago, without incident, by members of the FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs and officers from the CPD. All of the defendants named in separate indictments were charged with possession and/or distribution of a controlled substance, either heroin or cocaine, while one defendant was also charged in a criminal complaint with distribution of a controlled substance (heroin). All of the charges are felony offenses.

The three-year investigation leading to the filing of the charges announced today is part of an ongoing and coordinated effort by local, state, and federal authorities to identify and dismantle the many highly organized street gangs operating in Chicago, whose primary source of revenue is the sale of illicit drugs. This investigation, which resulted in the recovery of five weapons, over a kilogram of cocaine, and nearly 500 grams of heroin, employed the extensive use of sophisticated physical surveillance techniques, the controlled and undercover purchase of illegal drugs, and the court-authorized interception of telephone conversations involving the defendants.

This investigation was led by the Chicago FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs, which is comprised of FBI special agents and CPD officers. Additional assistance was provided during the investigation and arrests by the CPD’s Gang Intelligence and Organized Crime units; the Criminal Investigative Division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS); and the Cook County State’s Attorney Office. In announcing these arrests, Mr. Grant recognized the FBI’s continued partnership with the Chicago Police Department in combating illicit drug sales and its related crime and violence. Said Mr. Grant, “Our office will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to target those groups and individuals who choose to engage in the sale of illicit drugs, which often leads to entire neighborhoods being held hostage.”

Superintendent McCarthy added, “We are committed to working with our federal and local partners to eliminate the sale of illegal narcotics and the propensity for street violence they cause in our communities so that they are safer places to live, work, and play.”

Those arrested yesterday are identified as Valdemere Collier, age 27, of 6424 South Peoria; Terrance Elane, age 40, of 8 East 9th Street; Derrick Green, age 33, of 6438 South Morgan; Denitra Harris, age 37, of 6334 South Sangamon Avenue; Kalvin Harris, age 34, of 6640 South Wolcott Avenue; Eddie Hill, age 54, of 6640 South Normal; Mavric Johnson, age 37, of 5747 South Michigan Avenue; Clarence Jones, age 39, of 6217 South Langley; and John May, age 39, of 6424 South Peoria.

All of those arrested appeared in U.S. District Court late yesterday, at which time they were formally charged. They were ordered held without bond, pending their next scheduled court appearance, and will be housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Chicago. If convicted of the charges filed against them, the defendants in this case face possible sentences ranging from five years to life in prison.

The public is reminded that indictments and complaints are not evidence of guilt and that all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Copies of the indictments and criminal complaint filed in this case are available from the Chicago FBI’s Press Office at (312) 829-1199.