Member of Violent Chicago Street Gang Convicted in Federal Racketeering and Drug Trafficking Probe

CHICAGO — A federal jury in Chicago has convicted a member of a violent Chicago street gang of participating in a racketeering conspiracy that included murder and attempted murder.  The multi-district investigation previously resulted in the convictions of 20 other defendants.

The jury on April 28, 2023, convicted MARDI LANE, 34, of Chicago, after a two-week trial in U.S. District Court.  Evidence presented at trial revealed that Lane was a member and known “shooter” of the LAFA street gang, which violently controlled territory in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago.  The jury found that Lane in 2015 personally participated in a murder and multiple attempted murders.

The conviction is punishable by up to life in federal prison.  U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr., set sentencing for Dec. 8, 2023.

Twenty other defendants were previously convicted as part of the federal investigation.  The probe revealed that from 2008 to 2018, LAFA members committed multiple murders, attempted murders, robberies, and witness tampering, while trafficking cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, and MDMA in Chicago and Duluth, Minn.  LAFA members used violence and intimidation to protect the gang’s enterprise and keep rivals and witnesses in fear of retaliation.  Law enforcement during the probe seized 34 firearms, a machete and sheath, approximately a kilogram of cocaine, 78 pounds of marijuana, more than $190,000 in suspected illicit cash proceeds, designer clothing appraised at more than $300,000, Rolex watches, and numerous pieces of jewelry, including two necklaces containing 14-carat gold pendants with the initials “LAFA” written in diamonds.

Lane’s conviction and the results of the investigation were announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; and Eric Carter, Interim Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  Substantial assistance was provided by U.S. Attorney’s Offices in the Districts of Northern Indiana and Minnesota; the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office; U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago; Illinois State Police; Cook County Sheriff’s Office; police departments in Orland Park, Ill., Evergreen Park, Ill., Bolingbrook, Ill., and Joliet, Ill.; the Minnesota-based Lake Superior Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force; Duluth, Minn., Police Department; St. Louis County, Minn., State’s Attorney’s Office; and FBI offices in Minneapolis, Minn., and Indianapolis, Ind.  Valuable assistance was provided by the U.S. Trustee Program.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul Mower, Siva Sundaram, and Simar Khera.

The case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force operation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug trafficking organizations and other criminal networks that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local enforcement agencies.

The 20 defendants previously convicted in this investigation are listed below.

• AKEEM ASAD, 31, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to drug charges.  Awaiting sentencing.
• COTTRELL MACKEY, 29, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, including participating in a 2014 murder.  Awaiting sentencing.
• DIJON FOSTEN, 34, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, firearm, and drug charges.  Sentenced earlier this year to nearly 17 years.
• MARTEZ EASTER, 30, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.  Awaiting sentencing. 
• REGINALD JONES, 29, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, including participating in a murder and attempted murder.  Awaiting sentencing.
• CAREY HINTON, 30, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.  Sentenced in 2022 to 20 years, with a 40-month credit for time served in a related case.
• TONY PARKER, 28, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.  Awaiting sentencing.
• QUENTIN LUCIOUS, 32, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.  Sentenced in 2022 to 20 years and seven months, with a 76-month credit for time served in related cases.
• RAKIM ASAD, 30, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, drug conspiracy, and a firearm offense.  Awaiting sentencing.
• HARRIETTE MCPHERSON, 50, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy.  Sentenced in 2022 to four years.
• DERRICK MCNEAL, 50, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy.  Sentenced in 2022 to six years.
• RASHAD UNDERWOOD, 46, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to a drug charge.  Sentenced in 2021 to five years. 
• DEONTE BINGHAM, 42, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to a firearm charge.  Sentenced in 2020 to four years and two months.
• KELVIN EVERETT, 42, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to robbery and firearm offenses.  Sentenced earlier this year to nine years and two months.
• GREGORY BLACKWELL, 33, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to robbery and firearm offenses.  Sentenced in 2022 to six years. 
• QUINCY WRIGHT, 41, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to robbery and firearm offenses.  Sentenced earlier this year to four years and five months.  
• JERRY PEOPLES, 46, of Chicago, was convicted by a federal jury in 2022 of robbery offenses.  Awaiting sentencing.
• RACHAD LUCAS, 42, of Calumet City, Ill., pleaded guilty to drug and firearm charges.  Sentenced in 2020 to five years and ten months.
• SINCERE BRANNON, 23, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to a firearm charge.  Sentenced in 2022 to five years.
• ERNESTO MADRIGAL-GARZA, 34, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to an immigration offense.  Sentenced in 2022 to four years.