Chicago Street Gang Member Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison on Murder and Racketeering Conspiracy Charges

 CHICAGO — A member of a violent Chicago street gang has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for engaging in a pattern of racketeering activity that included murder.

ALONZO G. HORTA, 23, of Hammond, Ind., pleaded guilty to the federal charges earlier this year.  U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Kendall imposed the sentence Sept. 4, 2020, after a hearing in federal court in Chicago.

Horta admitted in a plea agreement that he conspired with leadership of the Latin Kings street gang to engage in a pattern of racketeering activity that included using violence and intimidation to protect the gang’s purported territory in Chicago.  Horta admitted murdering Alfonso Calderon on the Southeast Side of the city on April 9, 2017, because Horta suspected that Calderon was a member of a rival gang.  Horta was joined by two fellow members of the Latin Kings when they confronted him, and he fatally shot Calderon in order to advance the activities of the Latin Kings.

Horta was indicted in 2018 along with more than 30 other alleged members of the Latin Kings.  The indictment charged numerous acts of violence allegedly committed by the gang’s members, including murder, attempted murder, and arson.  Law enforcement uncovered the criminal activity through an investigation led by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).

The sentence was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; and David Brown, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. Valuable assistance was provided by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and the Hammond, Ind., Police Department. 

“Acting through the gang’s manifesto and constitution, members of the Latin Kings have infested the Southeast Side of Chicago and elsewhere with violence, drug-dealing, and witness intimidation,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys John D. Cooke, Ashley A. Chung, Brian J. Kerwin, and Grayson S. Walker argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.  “It is vital to communicate to the Southeast Side of Chicago and the rest of the district that carrying and using a gun can land you in federal prison for a long time, and that shooting a person to death will keep you in prison for decades.”