A leader of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation pleaded
guilty today to participating in a racketeering conspiracy involving murder,
attempted murder, robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated assault and narcotics
distribution.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Anderson of
the FBI’s Chicago Division and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the
FBI’s Miami Division made the announcement.
Rogelio Perez, aka Popeye, 44, of Chicago, pleaded guilty
before U.S. District Judge Cecelia M. Altonaga of the Southern District of
Florida to one count of conspiracy to conduct and participate in the affairs of
the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation through a pattern of racketeering
activity. Sentencing is scheduled for
Feb. 24, 2017.
According to admissions made in connection with his plea,
the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation is a criminal organization whose members
and associates engaged in acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder,
aggravated battery, aggravated assault, narcotics distribution, and other
criminal activities, and which operated in the Southern District of Florida,
the Northern District of Illinois and the Northern District of Indiana, among
other places. Perez joined the
Chicago-area chapter of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation in approximately
1990 and rose to the level of “street leader” in approximately 2006, which he
remained until his incarceration in June 2012.
While a “street leader,” Perez conducted meetings with Chicago-area
Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation and local gang leaders in an effort to
strike alliances. In November 2011 and
February 2012, Perez admitted that he traveled to Miami to meet the South
Florida-area chapter of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation to facilitate
the criminal activities of the gang. On
July 17, 2009, Perez also ordered members of the gang to retaliate against a
rival gang in response to a shooting of an Almighty Imperial Gangster’s Nation.
In addition, Perez that admitted that he and other members
of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation earned money for members and financed
the gang’s activities through trafficking in controlled substances, including
cocaine, cocaine base, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana. Perez and other members of the Almighty
Imperial Gangster’s Nation would use firearms, threats and acts of violence to
facilitate their drug trafficking.
The FBI’s Miami and Chicago Field Offices investigated the
case with the Miami-Dade Police Department; the City of Miami Police
Department; the Chicago Police Department, the Franklin Park, Illinois, Police
Department; and the East Chicago Police Department. The U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Northern
District of Indiana and the Northern District of Illinois; the FBI and ATF
field offices in Merrillville, Indiana; the State Attorney’s Offices of
Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in Florida; the State Attorney’s Offices in
Cook and Du Page Counties in Illinois; and the Florida Department of Correction
and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office assisted with this case. Trial Attorneys Joseph A. Cooley, Rebecca A.
Staton and Nicolas J. Regalia of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and
Gang Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of
Florida’s Forfeiture Section are prosecuting the case
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