Chicago Murder Suspect Added to FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List

A former Chicago resident wanted for the brutal sexual assault and murder of one woman and the beating and sexual assault of a second woman has been added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, announced Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Office. Joining Mr. Grant in making this announcement are Garry F. McCarthy, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (CPD); Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart; and Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.

Fidel Urbina, age 37, whose last known address was in the 2100 block of South Fairfield, has been the subject of a nationwide manhunt since 1999 after being charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution following the aggravated criminal sexual assault of a Chicago woman.

In March 1998, Urbina was arrested by the CPD and later charged with kidnapping, brutally beating, and raping a woman in Chicago. Subsequent to his arrest, Urbina was released on bond pending his trial in Cook County Circuit Court. While out on bond, Urbina was also suspected of assaulting and bludgeoning to death 22-year-old Gabriella Torres. Her body was found in the trunk of an automobile, which had been abandoned in an alley in the 2300 block of West 50th Street in Chicago. The vehicle had been set on fire and Torres’ body was badly burned. Urbina has since been charged with this crime as well. Attempts to locate and apprehend Urbina by local police were unsuccessful, as he had apparently fled the state.

On July 20, 1999, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Urbina and on August 26, 2006, a provisional arrest warrant was signed by a Mexican Federal Magistrate. Despite extensive investigation, including the case being profiled nationally on “America’s Most Wanted” and locally on “Chicago’s Most Wanted,” Urbina remains at large and his whereabouts are unknown. As such, the FBI is renewing its request for assistance from the public in locating and apprehending this wanted fugitive.

In making this announcement, Mr. Grant noted the continued threat to the community that Urbina poses. Said Mr. Grant, “Fidel Urbina is wanted for his alleged role in two brutal attacks directed against innocent women. These crimes have demonstrated his violent nature and the need to locate and apprehend Urbina before he can strike again. We are hoping that the publicity associated with this case, along with the significant reward being offered, will lead to his arrest.”

Urbina, who is a Mexican national, is described as a Hispanic male, 37 years of age, 6’0” tall, having a medium build, and weighing approximately 170 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes, and a severely pockmarked right cheek. He has been known to use numerous aliases, including the names Lorenzo Maes, Fernando Ramos, and Fidel Urbina Aquirre.

The search for Urbina is being coordinated by the Chicago FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF), which is comprised of FBI special agents, detectives from the Chicago Police Department, and Cook County Sheriff’s Police investigators.

Urbina is the 497th person to be placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, which was established in 1950. Urbina replaces Adam Christopher Mayes, who was wanted for the murder of a woman and her daughter and the kidnapping of her two small children from their home in Tennessee.

A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information leading to the location and arrest of Urbina. Anyone recognizing him or having any information as to his current whereabouts is asked to call the Chicago FBI at (312) 421-6700 or the nearest law enforcement agency.

Given the nature of the charges filed against him, Urbina should be considered armed and dangerous.

Additional information about this case and the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives program can be found online at www.fbi.gov.

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

Cook County Sheriff’s Deputy Arrested Following Sting Operation

Cook County Sheriff’s Deputy Samuel J. Spino was arrested today on federal charges after allegedly stealing $1,100 from a residence at which he and others were executing a judicial eviction order. Unbeknownst to Spino, video cameras had been installed by FBI agents within the residence, along with cash left in a drinking glass in the kitchen of the residence. Video captured Spino allegedly reaching into the glass containing the cash and after Spino and the others left the residence, agents determined that the $1,100 was no longer in the residence.

Spino, 35, of Melrose Park, was charged in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court with one count of theft of government property. The charge and arrest were announced by Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Thomas Dart, Cook County Sheriff; and Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Spino will appear today at 3:00 p.m. before Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason.

According to the complaint, Spino, a Cook County deputy sheriff since 2002, was assigned to the Evictions, Levies, and Warrants Unit and worked as part of a four-person team responsible for making entry into properties subject to eviction orders in order to clear the properties of any individuals. Once the properties are cleared, the eviction deputies leave the properties in the possession of the owners or owners’ representatives. According to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office of Professional Review (OPR), eviction deputies are not to confiscate or move personal property unless drugs or contraband are found in plain view. In that instance, the drugs or contraband are to be secured, photographed, and inventoried in accordance with Sheriff’s Department standard procedures.

The investigation was initiated in April of this year after the Cook County Sheriff’s Office of Professional Review brought several complaints against and allegations about Spino to the attention of the FBI. On May 3, 2012, Spino was sent with a team to execute a judicial eviction order at a residence on South Ingleside Avenue in Chicago. The owner of the property had previously allowed FBI agents access to the residence to install video cameras and to place $1,100 in a drinking glass in the kitchen of the residence. The video cameras recorded the actions of the eviction deputies within the residence as they cleared the property. In the video, Spino is seen in the kitchen after the other members of the team have left the room. Spino is then allegedly seen holding and reaching into the glass as he walks out of view of the cameras. Shortly thereafter, he is seen on camera placing an object into his pants pocket. The money placed by the agents was not found in the residence, and the Evictions, Levies, and Warrants Unit reported that no cash from the residence was inventoried with the Cook County Sheriff’s Evidence and Recovered Property Section.

This case was worked jointly with the Cook County Sheriff’s Office of Professional Review.

The charged count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The public is reminded that a criminal complaint is 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 federal criminal complaint filed in this case are available from the Chicago FBI’s Press Office, 312-829-1199.

Des Plaines Man Arrested on Federal Murder–For–Hire Charge

CHICAGO ¯ U. S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Division Andrew Traver , and Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart today made the following announced the arrest of Zenon Gregorczyk, 49, of Des Plaines, Ill., yesterday in Chicago on a murder– for–hire charge.

A criminal complaint was filed this morning in federal court in Chicago, charging Grzegorczyk with using an interstate facility, an automobile, in an alleged murder–for–hire scheme. Grzegorczyk appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Gilbert in Chicago this morning, and was ordered detained without bond until a bond hearing, which is scheduled for Monday, 10:15 a.m.

According to the criminal complaint, Grzegorczyk was arrested in the parking lot of a restaurant in the 6100 block of Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago after passing $3,000 to undercover agents from ATF and the Cook County Sheriff’s Police who were posing as “hitmen.” The proposed murder of as many as six victims was purportedly scheduled to take place in June. Because of the efforts of ATF and Cook County Sheriff’s Police, the intended victims were never in harm’s way.

The case was investigated by the ATF and the Cook County Sheriff’s Police. The case is being prosecuted in federal court by Assistant U. S. Attorneys Jennie Levin and Anthony Garcia.

Murder–for–hire carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, the court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U. S. sentencing guidelines.

The public is reminded that a criminal complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to an indictment by a federal grand jury and a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Fugitive Wanted for 1996 Murder in Chicago Arrested in Riverside County

Awaiting Extradition to Illinois

A fugitive wanted for a 1996 homicide in Chicago, Illinois was arrested in Hemet, California last Tuesday, after the FBI’s regional fugitive task force received information from the FBI’s Chicago Field Office that led to the fugitive’s location, announced Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, and Robert Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Chicago Field Office.

Giovanni Spiller, 65, was wanted by the Cook County Sheriff’s Police Department after he was identified as a suspect by the Chicago Police Department in a 1996 homicide that occurred in the city of Chicago. In December 1996, an arrest warrant charging Spiller with one count of murder was issued in Cook County, Illinois.

Spiller became a fugitive in 1997 and has eluded capture since. Investigators have sought Spiller in the United States and abroad, and believed he traveled through the Philippines, among other locations. Once Chicago detectives determined that Spiller had fled the state of Illinois, the FBI was asked to join the investigation and a federal warrant charging Spiller with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution (UFAP) was obtained in the Northern District of Illinois in May 1997.

Last week, members of the FBI’s Inland Regional Apprehension Team (IRAT) were contacted after investigators in Chicago received a tip indicating that Spiller could be located at a residence in Hemet, California.

IRAT members responded to the home and, after a short surveillance, located Spiller as he was parking in the driveway of the Hemet residence.

IRAT members positively identified Spiller, who had been using a fictitious name, and he was booked into the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside, California.

Spiller is being held at the Presley Detention Center pending extradition to Chicago to face prosecution. It is anticipated that the United States government will dismiss the federal warrant charging Spiller with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution and that he will remain in custody while he awaits prosecution for the state murder charge by the Cook County District Attorney’s Office.

The fugitive investigation was the result of cooperation by the FBI’s Chicago and Los Angeles Field Offices; IRAT members from the Riverside Police Department, the San Bernardino Police Department, and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department; and the FBI’s legal attaché assigned to the United States Embassy in Manila, the Philippines.

The FBI continues to work with local law enforcement to apprehend violent criminals charged with state crimes who then flee the jurisdiction interstate or internationally. Photos and descriptions of many fugitives wanted by the FBI can be found at FBI.gov.

Public’s Help Sought in Search for “Man in Black” Bank Robber

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is asking for the public’s help in identifying the individual depicted on the below wanted flyer, dubbed the “Man in Black” robber, who is responsible for the armed robbery of at least one bank in the Chicago area.

The robbery took place on April 6, 2011, at a Citibank branch, located at 5674 South Archer Avenue. According to witnesses, the robber entered the bank wearing a black motorcycle helmet and approached the counter. The robber motioned as though he was going to take off the motorcycle helmet, but instead reached into his jacket and pulled out a small, semi-automatic handgun and a black draw-string bag.

The robber then stated, “Give me all your money, I’m not kidding.” As the tellers put the money on the counter, the robber told one of the bank employees to put the money in the bag and told all of the tellers to “hurry up” while pointing the gun at them. The robber took the money from the tellers and began to leave the bank. While walking toward the southeast exit, the robber pointed the gun at an employee and stated, “Boom! Boom! You’re dead!” The robber then exited the bank on foot, last seen walking north on Laramie Avenue.

The “Man in Black” robber is described as a white/male, approximately 5’10”–6’2” tall, with a thin build. He wore a black “HJC” Motorcycle Helmet with dark visor, black jeans, black leather gloves, black leather riding jacket, and white tennis shoes during the robbery.

This case is being investigated by the Chicago FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force (VCTF), which is comprised of FBI special agents, detectives from the Chicago Police Department and investigators from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police.

Anyone recognizing this individual or having any information about this robbery is asked to call the Chicago FBI at (312) 421-6700 or any law enforcement agency.

Additional information about this and other unsolved Chicago area bank robberies, including downloadable photographs, is available on-line at the Bandit Tracker Chicago web site, www.bandittrackerchicago.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE:  Copies of the wanted flyer are available from the Chicago FBI’s press office at (312) 829-1199.

“Wicker Park Bandit” Sought by FBI

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is asking for the public’s help in identifying the individual depicted in the below photos. This individual, who is believed responsible for as many as eight bank robberies on Chicago’s northside since December of last year, has been dubbed the “Wicker Park Bandit.”

The most recent theft took place on January 16, 2012, when the North Community Bank branch, located at 448 North Wells Street in Chicago was robbed of an undisclosed amount of money. During the bank robberies, the lone robber entered the bank and approached a teller with a handwritten note asking for cash. He has not shown any weapons or made any threats during the robberies.

Other robberies attributed to the Wicker Park Bandit are the December 13, 2011 theft from the Chase Bank branch, located at 1700 N. Wells, Chicago, IL; December 20, 2011 theft from the North Community Bank branch, located at 2335 N. Clark, Chicago, IL; December 22, 2011 theft from the PNC Bank branch, located at 4440 N. Broadway, Chicago; December 30, 2011 theft from the Chase Bank branch, located at 1350 N. Wells, Chicago; January 6, 2012 theft from the North Community Bank branch, located at 1555 N. Damen, Chicago; January 6, 2012 theft from the North Community Bank branch, located at 1600 W. Chicago Ave, Chicago; and January 9, 2012 theft from the Chase Bank branch, located at 1200 N. State Parkway, Chicago. No injuries were reported in any of these incidents.

The Wicker Park Bandit is described as a black/male, 20-30 years of age, 5’2”-5’7” tall, thin build, with black hair and brown eyes. He has been dubbed the Wicker Park Bandit as most of his robberies have been in and around the Wicker Park neighborhood in Chicago.

This case is being investigated by the Chicago FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force, which is comprised of FBI special agents, detectives from the Chicago Police Department, and investigators from the Cook County Sheriff’s Police.

Anyone recognizing this individual or having any information about any of these robberies is asked to call the Chicago FBI at (312) 421-6700 or any law enforcement agency.

Additional information about this and other unsolved Chicago area bank robberies, including downloadable photographs, is available on-line at the Bandit Tracker Chicago website, Bandittrackerchicago.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Additional copies of the wanted flyer are available from the Chicago FBI’s press office at (312) 829-1199.

Latin Kings’ Nationwide Leader Augustin Zambrano Sentenced to 60 Years in Prison for RICO Conspiracy and Related Gang Crimes

CHICAGO—The highest-ranking leader nationwide of the Latin Kings street gang was sentenced today to 60 years in federal prison, the statutory maximum, after being convicted at trial last April of racketeering conspiracy (RICO) and related charges involving narcotics trafficking and violence that plagued numerous neighborhoods on the city’s north, south and west sides.. The defendant, Augustin Zambrano, 51, a “Corona” of the Almighty Latin King Nation, who was responsible for overseeing the illegal activities of all factions of the powerful street gang with some 10,000 members in Illinois alone, has been in federal custody since 2009 and must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence.

In imposing the sentence, U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle cited Zambrano’s extensive criminal record of violent offenses and his lack whatsoever of any acceptance of responsibility or remorse for victims.

Zambrano, also known as “Big Tino,” “Tino,” “Old Man,” and “Viejo,” and three co-defendants were found guilty of running a criminal enterprise to enrich themselves and others through drug-trafficking and preserving and protecting their power, territory and revenue through acts of murder, attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, extortion, and other acts of violence.

“This investigation has held to hold the leaders of the Latin Kings like Zambrano responsible for their iron-fisted leadership of a criminal enterprise responsible for murders and attempted murders. As the CEO of this gang, Zambrano bears responsibility for its criminal acts,” said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

In urging the maximum sentence, prosecutors wrote in a court filing:

“Zambrano chose violence at every turn. The message he sent out through his words and actions was that violence was the only path that mattered. He did so personally and through his appointment of trusted lieutenants such as Fernando King and Vicente Garcia, who were responsible through their stewardship for murder, attempted murder, shootings, beatings, and other acts of violence. Zambrano did not carry out any of this violence by himself. He was insulated. He was behind the scenes. He entrusted others to do it. He put leaders in place who shared his vision . . . to see to it that that Latin Kings acted barbarically. The result was an organization with its own rules, its own laws, and a savage code of violence. In many cases, the soldiers for whom defendant and the other leaders of the Latin Kings are responsible were simply boys who killed or were killed.”

Three co-defendants were convicted with Zambrano at trial of RICO conspiracy and other crimes. Jose Guzman, a former “Nation Enforcer” in the 26th Street, or Little Village, faction, was sentenced last month to 35 years in prison. Awaiting sentencing are Vicente Garcia, the “Supreme Regional Inca,” who was in charge of all Latin Kings in Illinois, and Alphonso Chavez, the “Inca,” or leader of the gang’s 31st and Drake faction. Fernando “Ace” King, who preceded Garcia as Supreme Regional Inca and pleaded guilty, was sentenced last October to 40 years in prison.

Evidence at trial included audio and video recordings of three beatings inflicted upon gang members for violating the rules and testimony documenting 20 shootings in the Little Village area, including at least one in which the victim died. Zambrano and Garcia were both convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon.

The four trial defendants were among a total of 31 co-defendants who were indicted in September 2008 or charged in a superseding indictment in October 2009. Of those 31 defendants, 24 pleaded guilty, four were convicted at trial, and three remain fugitives. From its origin and base in the west side Little Village community, the Latin Kings spread throughout Chicago and Illinois and established branches in other states, where local leaders acted with some autonomy but adhered to the rules and hierarchy of the Chicago gang, according to the evidence in the five-week federal trial.

The RICO conspiracy count included evidence that Zambrano and several co-defendants conspired to demand and receive payment from an organization illegally selling fraudulent immigration documents in Little Village by threatening, and actually engaging in, the use of force and violence against members of that organization unless the defendants received regular cash payments. Trial evidence proved federal charges that Latin Kings leaders extorted “street tax” from non-gang members, referred to as “miqueros,” who sold false identification documents.

As part of the RICO conspiracy, evidence also showed that defendants kept victims in fear of the gang and its leaders by enforcing what it referred to as an “SOS”—shoot on sight or smash on sight—order against Latin King members who cooperated with law enforcement in order to enforce the gang’s grip on the community and control over its members and associates.

Mr. Fitzgerald announced the sentence with Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Andrew L. Traver, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Chicago Police Department, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Chicago, and the Cook County Sheriff’s Police also had significant roles in the investigation, which was conducted through the federal High Intensity Drug-Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force and under the umbrella of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).

The convictions resulted from sustained, coordinated investigations by multiple federal law enforcement agencies, working together with the Chicago Police Department and other state and local partners, to dismantle the hierarchy of the Latin Kings and other highly-organized, often violent, drug-trafficking Chicago street gangs. In late 2006, ATF agents led an investigation that resulted in federal drug trafficking and firearms charges against 38 Latin Kings members and associates. 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. In total, more than 80 Latin Kings members and associates have faced state or federal charges since 2006 and, of those, approximately 65 have been convicted federally, with only a few fugitives still facing federal charges.

Zambrano is the highest-ranking leader of the Latin Kings to be convicted since Gustavo “Gino” Colon, who also holds the title of “Corona” and is serving a life sentence that was imposed in 2000 for running a continuing criminal enterprise

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew Porter, Nancy DePodesta and Tinos Diamantatos.

For further information about the Zambrano trial, see the government’s previous press release at: http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2011/pr0407_01.pdf .

Fifteen Charged in Gun-Running Probe

Fifteen Chicago men were charged in grand jury indictments or criminal complaints filed earlier this week in either U.S. District Court or Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago with violating state or federal firearms laws.

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

Thirteen of the defendants were arrested yesterday at various locations in and around Chicago, without incident, by members of the Chicago FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs and officers from the CPD. Two other defendants MARCUS JEFFERSON and TERRILL SMITH, avoided capture and are now the subjects of a nationwide manhunt.

Six of those arrested were charged in separate federal grand jury indictments with felon in possession of a firearm and/or distribution of a controlled substance. Those charged federally are identified as MARCUS JEFFERSON, age 31; MAURICE MARTIN, age 41; CARLOS MENDEZ, age 33; KEITH MURRAY, 45; TERRILL SMITH, age 23; and BRUCE WEATHERSPOON, age 30; all residents of Chicago. An additional defendant, RAMON FAVELA, age 38, also of Chicago, was arrested and subsequently charged in a criminal complaint with possession and distribution of a controlled substance.

Eight others were charged in criminal complaints filed in state court with unlawful sale of a firearm or unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. The state defendants are identified as AARON BASSETT, age 22; COREY BRAMLETT, age 19; TRIMELL COLLINS, age 27; GREGORY FREEMAN, age 23; DAVID HILL, age 22; CORNELIUS LEE, age 28; JAMES TOOMER, age 27; and CARLOS WILLIAMS, age 39, all residents of Chicago.

According to the grand jury indictments and criminal complaints, all of those charged were involved in the illegal possession or sale of firearms, including handguns, shotguns and assault rifles on Chicago’s west and south sides, since April of 2010. These weapons are alleged to have been purchased outside of Illinois, transported to Chicago where the defendants took possession of them, then eventually sold to undercover operatives for amounts ranging from $ 250.00 to $1600.00.

The investigation leading to the filing of the charges announced today is part of an ongoing and coordinated effort by the FBI and CPD’s Organized Crime Bureau and Gang Investigations Division to identify those responsible for illegally supplying firearms to Chicago’s criminal element, which are often used in street violence. During the course of this investigation, which incorporated sophisticated physical and electronic surveillance techniques and controlled undercover purchases, 48 firearms were recovered.

In announcing these arrests, Mr. Grant recognized the continued partnership with law enforcement at every level in combating violent street gangs. Said Mr. Grant, “The charges announced today reaffirm the FBI’s role in helping to stem the tide of violence in the City of Chicago and surrounding suburbs brought about by street gangs vying for control of lucrative drug trafficking locations.”

Additionally, the FBI is grateful for the assistance and support provided by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, the Illinois State Police Forensic Laboratory, the Cook County Sheriff’s Intelligence Unit and the Illinois Department of Corrections.

“Gun violence is one of the toughest problems we face in the fight against crime,” said Superintendent McCarthy. “Chicago Police will continue collaborative efforts with our law enforcement partners in order to stop the influx of illegal firearms onto our City’s streets, and to keep these deadly weapons out of the hands of criminals responsible for drug and gang related violence in our communities,” he added.

“Today’s arrests are crucial in our ongoing efforts to target and cut off the flow of illegal weapons onto our streets which is driving the violence plaguing so many of our communities,” said Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. She added “The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office stands united with our partners in sharing all of our resources to continue to target and aggressively prosecute this type of gun trafficking.”

Those charged federally appeared in U.S. District Court in Chicago late yesterday and today, at which time they were formally charged. Two of the defendants were ordered held without bond, pending their next court appearance, which is scheduled for Monday, December 19. The remaining defendants were released on house arrest and electronic monitoring. If convicted of the charges filed against them, all seven federal defendants face a possible sentence ranging from 10 years to life in prison.

Those charged in state court appeared at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse earlier today, at which time they were formally charged. All eight defendants were ordered held on bonds ranging from $50,000 to $250,000 and all face sentences ranging from three to seven years in prison.

The Chicago FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs is comprised of FBI special agents and officers from the Chicago Police Department.

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

EDITOR’S NOTE: Copies of the federal grand jury indictments and criminal complaints filed in this case are available from the Chicago FBI’s press office at (312) 829-1199. Copies of the criminal complaints filed in state court are available from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office at (312) 603-1839.