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Federal Bureau of Investigation - Seal - Link to FBI Chicago Main Press Page

U.S. Department of Justice

Federal Bureau of Investigation
In Reply, Please Refer to Release No.

2111 W. Roosevelt Rd
Chicago, Illinois 60608
(312) 829-1199

October 26, 2006

CHICAGO GANG FUGITIVE NABBED IN GEORGIA

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced today the arrest of LASEAN FORD, age 34, a suspected associate of the Black Disciples street gang, by FBI Special Agents and the U.S. Marshals Task Force. He was arrested on October 24, 2006 without incident in Columbus, Georgia. His last known permanent address was 6437 S. Stewart in Chicago, Illinois.

FORD was indicted on May 11, 2004 by a Federal Grand Jury in the Northern District of Illinois charging him with Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine and Crack Cocaine. Ford was among the targets of a federal investigation in Chicago by a multi-jurisdictional task force of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies focused on gang activity.

On May 12, 2004, the FBI, along with numerous other agencies, executed arrest warrants for 47 individuals allegedly involved with the Black Disciples street gang, which was believed to control a multi-million dollar drug-trafficking enterprise in Chicago. FORD evaded capture at that time and remained a fugitive until his Tuesday arrest.

On October 25, 2006, FORD appeared before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Columbus, Georgia. He was ordered held without bond pending his removal to Chicago to face the criminal charges. He remains in U.S. custody while awaiting his transport to Illinois.

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