Twenty arrested in Humboldt Park drug sweep

Seventeen members of the Maniac Latin Disciples street gang, operating primarily on Chicago's Northwest side in and around Humboldt Park, were part of the eighteen person arrest on Feb. 23 by agents and officers assigned to the FBI's Joint Task Force on Gangs.

This arrest culminates a nearly two-year long investigation which targeted illicit drug and firearms sales.Two additional defendants remain at-large and are now the subject of a nationwide manhunt, according to Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Jody P. Weis, Chicago's Police Superintendent.

Some of the charges were contained in eight separate criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, which were unsealed prior to the announcement, and which charged ten current or former Chicago area residents with distribution of a controlled substance or violating federal firearms laws. Ten others were charged with violating state drug or firearms laws in charges filed in Cook County Circuit Court.

Four of those arrested were charged in one of four federal complaints with distribution of in excess of fifty grams of crack cocaine. They are identified as Richard Fischer, age 32, of 5333 W. Carmen Ave.; David Gonzalez, age 22, of 4824 W. Drummond Pl,; Stanfield Steele, age 34, of 439 Durbin St., Gary, IN; and Sharond Williams, age 30, of 2457 N. Albany Ave. All four were arrested at various locations, without incident. A fifth defendant, identified as Steven Renteria, age 26, of Chicago, was in custody on unrelated charges while a sixth defendant, Dwight Johns, age 33, of 11 W. Division St.,eluded capture and remains at-large.

Two others arrested were charged in separate federal complaints with distribution of in excess of five grams of crack cocaine. They are identified as Marcus Marinelli, age 28, of 2622 N. Sayre and Alexander Santiago, age 33, of 2942 N. Nagle Ave. Both men were arrested at separate locations, without incident. Also arrested was Jesus La Gunas, age 24, of 1806 N. Washtenaw Ave., who was charged in a separate federal complaint with felon-in-possession of a firearm. Luis Cancel, age 20, of 311 E. Carroll St. in Kissimmee, FL was also charged in a federal complaint with felon-in-possession of a firearm, but eluded capture and remains at-large.

Those arrested on state charges are identified as Tony Brito, age 30, of 3915 W. Grand Ave.; Marco Estrada, age 22, of 3906 N. Christiana Ave.; Francisco Garcia, age 44, of 1442 N. Avers; Angel Jimenez, age 32, 1849 N. Washtenaw Ave.; Ivan Melendez, age 36, of 1422 N. Lawndale; Nicholas Mendoza, age 27, of 2144 N. Keeler; Alper Senger, age 31, of 4155 N. Lincoln Ave.; Elliot Torres, age 22, of 1839 N. Washtenaw Ave.; and Anthony Zafiro, age 20, of 1736 N. Campbell Ave. A tenth state defendant, Jose Mateo, age 27, of 1838 N. Washtenaw Ave. was in custody on unrelated charges.

This investigation, which was code named "Operation Bruised Forks", was investigated by the Chicago FBI's Joint Task Force on Gangs, which is comprised of FBI special agents and officers from the Chicago Police Department, Area 5 Spanish Gang Task Force and Organized Crime Division, and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA). The Cook County State's Attorney's office also assisted with the investigation.

Investigators utilized undercover and controlled purchases of illegal narcotics and firearms, both of which helped lead to the filing of the charges. During the course of the investigation, over a kilogram of cocaine, primarily cocaine base in the form of crack cocaine, thirty-five grams of heroin, and twenty-four weapons were recovered.

All of those arrested on federal charges were scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Morton Denlow in Chicago, for formal charges. If convicted, those charged with possession of in excess of fifty grams of crack cocaine face a mandatory minimum sentence of ten years incarceration, those charged with possession of in excess of five grams of crack cocaine face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years incarceration, while those charged with felon-in-possession of a firearm face a possible sentence of up to ten years incarceration. (Our Urban Times is waiting for information from the State's Attorney's office regarding the appearance.)

Those arrested on state charges are scheduled to appear in bond court at dates and times to be determined. If convicted, they face possible sentences of up to thirty years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

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

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