SECOND MAN CHARGED IN 2007 METRA SHOOTING INCIDENTS

Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today the arrest of a second man in connection with shooting incidents that targeted METRA South Shore trains in June 2007.

THEODORE HOWARD, age 48, of Chicago, was arrested yesterday evening, without incident, by members of the Chicago FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in the 100 block of West 113 th Place in Chicago. HOWARD was charged in a superseding Federal Grand Jury indictment, returned last week, with Interference with the Operation of a Train and violation of federal firearms statutes, both of which are felony offenses.

The indictment charges HOWARD and a second man, TELLY S. VIRGIN, with the June 6 and 8, 2007 incidents during which shots were fired from a firearm at a passing METRA train on the South Shore line. No injuries were reported in either incident. VIRGIN was initially charged with involvement in this crime in October of 2007 and is awaiting trial.

In court today, prosecutors alleged that HOWARD hired VIRGIN to kill his ex-wife, who was employed by METRA as a train engineer on the South Shore line.

HOWARD appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan in Chicago, earlier today, at which time he was formally charged. HOWARD was ordered held without bond, pending his next scheduled court appearance, which is scheduled for 9:00 AM tomorrow before U.S. District Court Judge James B. Moran in Chicago. HOWARD will be housed overnight at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in Chicago. If convicted of the charges filed against them, both HOWARD and VIRGIN face a possible sentence of up fifty (50) years incarceration.

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.

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

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