By Gangsters Inc. Editors
Nine alleged members of the Four Corner Hustlers street gang in Chicago were charged this week with participating in a criminal organization that murdered six people and violently protected drug-dealing territories on the city’s West and Southwest Sides.
Prosecutors say that the Four Corner Hustlers dealt drugs and robbed rival dealers, used violence and intimidation to prevent victims and witnesses from cooperating with law enforcement, and tried to avoid detection by monitoring police scanners and outfitting its members with a security detail. The gang engaged in numerous acts of violence, including murder, robbery, extortion and aggravated battery, according to the indictment.
The group operated primarily in the Chicago neighborhoods of West Garfield Park and Humboldt Park on the West Side, and in the former LeClaire Courts public housing development on the Southwest Side.
Nine alleged Four Corner Hustlers are charged with racketeering conspiracy. Two other defendants are charged in the indictment with participating in an extortion conspiracy, bringing the total number of charged defendants to eleven. The indictment identifies three Four Corner Hustlers who engaged in the racketeering conspiracy but died before they could be charged.
Authorities uncovered the alleged gang activity through a lengthy investigation conducted under the umbrella of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), with assistance from the Chicago FBI’s Safe Street Task Force, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA), the ATF’s Chicago Crime Gun Strike Force, and the Chicago Police Gang Investigations Division.
38-year-old Labar Spann, 43-year-old Sammie Booker, 33-year-old Tremayne Thompson, 37-year-old Juhwun Foster, 30-year-old Marchello Devine, 24-year-old Rontrell Turnipseed, 29-year-old Keith Chatman, 27-year-old Stevon Sims, and 40-year-old Deandre Spann are all held criminally responsible for the murders of six people:
- Carlos Caldwell on Jan. 19, 2000;
- Maximillion McDaniel on July 25, 2000;
- Levar Smith on Aug. 14, 2000;
- George King on April 8, 2003;
- Willie Woods on April 16, 2003;
- Rudy Rangel on June 4, 2003.
Specifically, the indictment charges that Labar Spann participated in all six slayings, with assistance in five of them from at least one other member of the conspiracy. Individual counts in the indictment charge Labar Spann, Thompson and Foster with committing the murder of Woods; and Labar Spann with committing the murder of Rangel. The charges allege that the Woods and Rangel murders were carried out for the purpose of maintaining and increasing position in the Four Corner Hustlers.
For these serious allegations, defendants face at least prison sentences of up to 20 years and those charged with racketeering and murder face life behind bars or even the death penalty.
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