Three Men Indicted on Federal Racketeering Charge for Allegedly Murdering Man To Increase Positions in Chicago Street Gang

CHICAGO — Three men have been indicted on a federal racketeering charge for allegedly murdering a man to maintain and increase their positions in a violent Chicago street gang.

CAMERON CALLISON, 24, JUAN ALCARAZ, 23, and VICTOR RAMIREZ, 24, all of Chicago, are charged with one count of murder in aid of racketeering.  Callison, a previously convicted felon, is also charged with illegally possessing a handgun.

The indictment was unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  It accuses the trio of murdering Victor Ochoa on June 17, 2019, for the purpose of maintaining and increasing their positions in the Ambrose street gang, a criminal organization based on the South Side of Chicago whose members engaged in violence and trafficked narcotics.  Ochoa was fatally shot while riding in a vehicle in the 2900 block of North Broadway in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.

The defendants were arrested this morning and will make initial appearances in federal court in Chicago this afternoon.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office will be seeking to have the defendants detained pending trial.

The indictment and arrests 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 FBI Chicago Field Office, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paige Nutini and Maureen McCurry.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Murder in aid of racketeering is punishable by a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison, and the death penalty is also possible.  The firearm charge against Callison is punishable by up to ten years.   If convicted, the Court must impose reasonable sentences under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.