United States Attorney
Northern District of Illinois
 

MANY ALLEGEDLY HIGH-RANKING LATIN KINGS LEADERS IN LITTLE VILLAGE AMONG 40 FACING STATE OR FEDERAL CHARGES

CHICAGO – When many of the “Incas” (leaders) of two dozen sections of the 26th Street Region of the Latin Kings street gang gathered just over a year ago – on Sep. 15, 2007 – they were physically searched for law enforcement recording devices by an individual who, unbeknownst to them, had secretly begun cooperating with the FBI and Chicago Police just months before and was wearing a wire. The individual, identified only as “CW1,” who joined the gang in 1993 and was one of the “Nation Enforcers” for the 26th Street Region between August 2007 and January 2008, was responsible for security and looking out for law enforcement at the September 2007 meeting. At that meeting, Vicente Garcia, 30, of Bolingbrook, then the alleged Regional Officer or top leader of the 26th Street Region, ordered the Incas for the 24 sections under his command to sell a quarter-ounce of powder cocaine twice a month to fund the “Nation Box,” a kitty that the regional hierarchy – consisting of Garcia, Jose L. Guzman, Victor Aviles and CW1 – used to purchase weapons, narcotics, and pay for funeral and attorney fees for fellow gang members, according to new federal charges announced today by Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In all, 40 defendants were charged – 29 federally and 11 on state charges, with Chicago Police Superintendent Jody P. Weis and Richard A. Devine, Cook County State’s Attorney, joining in the announcement. Twenty-nine of the 40 were in custody as of late this morning.

Five times in October and November 2007, the “Incas” or “Casiques” – the leader and second in command, respectively – of the 24 Latin Kings sections in the 26th Street Region, located roughly in Chicago’s Little Village community, paraded in and out of CW1's parked van and were captured on audio and video recordings either receiving a quarter-ounce of cocaine and/or paying $200 to the ALKN “Nation Box” fund. The plan allegedly directed by Garcia was intended to generate $4,800 twice a month for the gang. In fact, in October and November 2007, CW1 allegedly paid Garcia more than $17,000 from the proceeds of each section’s periodic sales of a quarter-ounce of cocaine.

And, after Garcia allegedly directed CW1 to execute the plan in late September 2007, CW1 paid an additional $5,400 to Garcia, claiming that he/she had sold the six ounces of cocaine that Garcia had provided to him/her to a single customer at a better price than would have been generated by the 24 section leaders. In fact, CW1 turned the cocaine over to the FBI, which provided the “buy” money to support CW1's claim that it had been sold. Ultimately, CW1 did not distribute any cocaine to any Latin King on behalf of Garcia, but instead was present when Danny Dominguez, the alleged Inca of the 30th and Sawyer Section, distributed the quarter-ounce quantities to others for Garcia.

Garcia’s alleged plan put CW1 at the hub of the plot and CW1 used his/her role to document the identity, rank and personal information of the alleged section leaders who participated in numerous transactions. In the instance that CW1 diverted the cocaine provided to him/her by Garcia to the FBI instead of distributing it, CW1 used the opportunity to hand out the gang’s strict rules, “Little Village Laws,” to each section’s leadership - a copy of which was also provided to the FBI.

As a result of the intensive three-month effort in the fall of 2007, a federal investigation of the Latin Kings that began four years ago, culminated today with 19 alleged Incas being charged among the 29 federal defendants. The investigation revealed that the 26th Street Region – one of several large Latin Kings regions operating throughout Chicago and northern Illinois – was actively involved in the sale of cocaine and, to a lesser extent, crack cocaine in the neighborhoods in and around Little Village on the city’ southwest side. Located along 26th Street, a main east-west thoroughfare, the region is bounded roughly by Fairfield Avenue (east) to Millard Avenue (west), and 21 st Street (north) to 33 rd Street (south.) The region’s 24 sections are typically named after a street or intersection, with each section having its own leadership and “soldiers” ranging between approximately 12 to 80 individuals.

In the summer of 2007, CW1 allegedly purchased larger amounts of powder and crack cocaine from Garcia and other defendants, as well as firearms and ammunition.

Garcia, also known as “DK” or “Disciple Killer,” originally a member of the Latin Kings’ Bolingbrook Section before transferring to the 30th and Sawyer Section where he became the Inca in the 1990s, was allegedly the “Regional Officer” in charge of the 26th Street Region throughout 2007. In January 2008, he was promoted to “Supreme Regional Officer” in charge of all of the south side regions, replacing Fernando “Ace” King, who was arrested as part of a federal investigation in 2006, pleaded guilty last summer and is awaiting sentencing. That investigation yielded federal drug-trafficking charges against 38 high-ranking members and associates of the Latin Kings since 2003.

As a result of the new FBI/CPD-led investigation, Garcia and 24 co-defendants, including Guzman, a regional enforcer, and 18 Incas, were charged together in a 223-page criminal complaint with conspiracy to possess and distribute more than 500 grams of cocaine. Another alleged regional enforcer, Victor Aviles, was charged in a separate complaint with two counts of being a felon-inpossession of firearms. A 19th alleged Inca, Jose Uriostegui, was charged in two separate but similar complaints with conspiring with two brothers to posses and distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine.

Those arrested today are scheduled to appear at 10:30 a.m. Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria Valdez in U.S. District Court.

“The Latin Kings are a tightly-knit, centrally-controlled street gang whose many soldiers and leaders, across numerous sections and regions, work together to sell drugs and protect their turf,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “Today’s charges are directed against the gang’s alleged leaders whoa re charged with directing drug sales two days a month to pay for the gang’s weapons, drugs, attorney’s fees and funerals.”

Mr. Grant said: “The arrests are the result of a sophisticated and aggressive investigation that used all of the resources available to federal law enforcement to reach into the highest levels of the Latin Kings. The scenario that resulted in these charges was devised at the top and executed down the chain, while law enforcement seized the opportunity to capture an inside view of the entire operation.”

Also assisting in the investigation and/or arrests were, the federal High Intensity Drug-Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Cook County and Kane County Sheriff’s Police and the police departments of Bolingbrook and Romeoville. The investigation, which was conducted under the umbrella of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), is continuing the officials said.

The investigation is part of a sustained, coordinated effort by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies to dismantle the hierarchy of Chicago’s highly-organized, and violent, drug-trafficking street gangs. The investigation employed undercover cooperating witnesses, including onetime gang members, wiretaps and undercover audio and video surveillance of drug transactions.

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

If convicted of drug charges, Garcia and his 24 co-defendants each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison and a maximum of 40 years in prison and a maximum fine of $2 million. Uriostegui and his two co-defendants, if convicted of distributing crack cocaine, face a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life and a $4 million fine. Aviles, if convicted of being a felon-in-possession, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each count. Note, however, that the Court would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed.

The public is reminded that a complaint contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

A list of all 29 federal defendants follows.

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United States v. Garcia, et al., (08 CR 746)

Note: All defendants reside in Chicago unless otherwise listed ...

Vicente Garcia, aka, “DK,” 30, of Bolingbrook, Supreme Regional Officer;
Valentin Baez, aka “Baby 24,” “Valentin Biez,” 22, Casique;
Rolando Bautista, aka “Shorty,” 24;
Alphonso Chavez, aka “Ponch,” 23, Inca;
Juan DeJesus, aka “Baby 28,” 24, Inca;
Danny Dominguez, aka “Baby Trigger,” “Baby T,” 23,Inca;
Jose Dominguez, aka “Silent,” 23, Inca;
Daniel Galindo, aka “Horse,” 23, Casique;
Luis Garcia, aka “Wild,” “Jose Campos,” 32, Inca;
Christopher Gonzalez, aka “Jouster,” 30, Inca;
Pol Gonzalez, aka “Hustler,” 26, Inca;
Samuel Gutierrez, aka “Wedo,” 24, Inca;
Jose Guzman, aka “Boo Boo,” 31, Regional Enforcer;
Roberto Guzman, aka “Devious,” 27, Inca;
David Hernandez, aka “Cubby,” 25, Casique;
Polin Lopez, aka “Baby 23,” 23, Inca;
Gregory Mendoza, aka “Lil Psycho,” 25, Casique;
Jose Perez, aka “Chaqual,” “Ricardo Fernandez,” “Arturo Hernandez,” 29, Inca;
Javier Ramirez, aka “Convict,” 27, Inca;
Steven Rangel, aka “Stevie,” “Crazy K,” 29, Inca;
Wilfredo Rivera, Jr., aka “Boy,” 33, of Romeoville, Inca;

Belsain Rodriguez, aka “Lil Diablo,” 29, Inca;
Joseph Segura, aka “JD,” 33, Inca;
Fernando Vazquez, aka “Pac Man,” 25,Inca;
Adolfo Zuniga, Jr., aka “King Menace,” 22, Inca

United States v. Victor Aviles Victor Aviles, aka “Baby A,” “Pedro Aviles,” and “Jose Abiles,” 27, Regional Enforcer

United States v. Jose Uriostegui, et al. Jose Uriostegui, aka “Puppet,” 27, Inca; Christopher Lewis, aka “Gotti,” 25, of Forest Park

United States v. Jose Uriostegui, et al. Jose Uriostegui, aka “Puppet,” 27, Inca; Cardell Lewis, aka “Pacman,” 19 or 20