FBI GANG FUGITIVE CAPTURED BY CHICAGO POLICE

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Jody P. Weis, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) announced today the arrest of VERNELL HEMPHILL, age 34, of Chicago, Illinois. HEMPHILL was arrested on April 20, 2008 by Chicago Police Gang Intelligence officers at a gas station on the corner of 167th Street and Crawford Avenue in Markham, Illinois.

HEMPHILL was one of eight individuals charged in U.S. District Court in a criminal complaint filed in January 2008 alleging violations of federal drug laws. The complaint and the arrest of HEMPHILL are the culmination of a three-year investigation codenamed "Operation Milestone" targeting the leadership of the Black P-Stone Nation street gang. To date, a total of 29 individuals have been charged in connection with this investigation.

According to the January complaint, HEMPHILL conspired with his codefendants to distribute cocaine and heroin in various parts of Chicago and surrounding suburbs on behalf of the Black P-Stones. The capture of HEMPHILL by Chicago Police Gang Intelligence officers is significant because he was the final "Operation Milestone" fugitive to be apprehended.

On Sunday evening, Chicago Police Gang Intelligence officers began covertly following a car thought to be driven by HEMPHILL. Before the officers could execute a vehicle stop, HEMPHILL entered the Dan Ryan expressway, and the surveillance continued into Markham, Illinois. The officers followed HEMPHILL until such a time that the arrest could be executed without endangering the public, and at 8:19 p.m. HEMPHILL was arrested without incident at the Citgo gas station on the corner of 167th Street and Crawford Avenue in Markham, Illinois.

In announcing the apprehension of HEMPHILL, Mr. Grant applauded the efforts of the Chicago Police Gang Intelligence officers: "When it comes to large, complex gang investigations, cooperation between local and federal authorities is paramount to our ultimate success. The Gang Intelligence officers who finally arrested Mr. Hemphill are to be commended for their outstanding investigative work."

"When law enforcement works together, our coordinated efforts reduce the impact of violence that gangs and drugs bring to a community. The ability of our Organized Crime Division's gang intelligence officers to cross reference good street intelligence provided this investigation with solid evidence to take criminal operations out of play," said Superintendent Weis.

HEMPHILL is currently being held in Cook County Jail on an unrelated local warrant, and he will later be remanded to federal custody. His initial appearance in federal court has not yet been scheduled.

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

EDITOR'S NOTE: Copies of the January 2008 criminal complaint filed in this case are available from the Chicago FBI press office at (312) 829-1199.

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