Imperial Insane Vice Lords Indicted - 10/10/1303:36 AM
In the second major gang sweep in two weeks, federal and local authorities announced Wednesday a crackdown on the Imperial Insane Vice Lords, an allegedly violent West Side gang, with the arrests of nearly three dozen leaders and members for a murder, an attempted murder and almost two decades of drug trafficking.
The takedown came as Chicago's stubborn problem of gun violence and street gangs has continued to garner national attention.
Among those charged was the gang's reputed "king," Nathaniel Hoskins, 45, who was accused of ordering the April 2011 murder of drug rival Marcus Hurley in West Humboldt Park. The gang henchman who allegedly carried out the killing, Andre Brown, was himself fatally shot in June 2012, authorities said.
Hoskins was arrested at O'Hare International Airport on Tuesday as he was boarding a flight to Las Vegas, where he has a second home, authorities said. At a hearing Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole, Hoskins sat sullenly in the jury box, his hands cuffed and dressed in a gray sweatsuit. Prosecutors will seek to continue to detain him and a number of his co-defendants at hearings next week.
Hoskins and nine other defendants were charged with federal racketeering conspiracy. Hoskins and 23 other members of the gang were also charged with drug conspiracy for allegedly running an open-air market on the West Side that peddled heroin, cocaine and marijuana. Nine others face state charges in Cook County, authorities said.
According to the indictment, the gang used violence to control its drug markets. Authorities alleged three high-ranking gang members — Torrie King, 37; Julian Martin, 28, and Raymond Myles, 39 — plotted the murder of an individual in May 2011, but the killing was not carried out. Another gang leader, Joseph Faulkner, 40, was charged with ordering the January 2010 shooting of an unnamed victim who was wounded but survived the attack.
Court records show that two decades ago, Hoskins and Faulkner were charged in the 1993 murder of Jerome Lucious on the West Side. Hoskins fled to Las Vegas, where he was arrested in 2005 living under an alias, records show. The murder charges were eventually dropped against Hoskins, while Faulkner was found not guilty by a Cook County judge.
Late last month, the leader and several other members of the Hobos street gang were charged in connection with several homicides, including the 2006 killing of a police informant.
Re: Imperial Insane Vice Lords Indicted - 10/10/1309:57 AM
Twice in two weeks now. First the hobos gang now this.
This guy was running the gang from vegas apparently and was trying to unite the smaller gangs under them. More details in this article.
33 people — including gang’s reputed ‘king’ — charged in drug conspiracy case BY FRANK MAIN, KIM JANSSEN AND MITCH DUDEK Staff Reporters October 9, 2013 11:36AM
Tattoos of the Imperial Insane Vice Lords are pictured in the Chicago Crime Commission Gang Book. The gang's alleged leader, Nathaniel Hoskins, was charged along with 32 others in a conspiracy case that includes a 2011 murder, authorities said. ARTICLE EXTRAS
View Gallery Updated: October 10, 2013 2:20AM
Nathaniel Hoskins and his family lived in Las Vegas.
But the reputed gang leader micromanaged drug spots in his hometown of Chicago and even ordered a murder in 2011, prosecutors said.
On Wednesday, Hoskins, 45, was among 33 people charged with participating in a narcotics enterprise.
Hoskins is the reputed head of the Imperial Insane Vice Lords, whose stronghold is on the West Side but also operated a drug spot in Wicker Park near North and Damen, police said.
Hoskins — who was ranked as the “king” of the gang — allegedly ordered the fatal shooting of Marcus Hurley on April 27, 2011.
Police said the killer, Andre Brown, was shot to death on June 2, 2012.
Both men were killed near the gang’s main drug market at Thomas and Keystone on the West Side.
The gang also was involved in a Jan. 5, 2010, shooting of a victim not identified in the indictment. Joseph “Little Joe” Faulkner, another defendant who was ranked “prince” of the gang, ordered the shooting, prosecutors said.
Hoskins was among 10 defendants charged in federal court with racketeering. They and 14 others ranging in age from 21 to 52 also were charged federally with conspiracy to distribute heroin.
Nine other defendants were charged separately in Cook County Criminal Court.
The federal indictment alleges Julian “Light Bright” Martin and Torrie King — two members with the rank of “Five Star Universal Elite” — conspired with gang member Raymond “Boozak” Myles to murder an individual on May 4, 2011. The indictment does not say whether the killing was carried out. King remains at large.
Hoskins was arrested Monday at O’Hare Airport as he tried to leave town for Las Vegas. He appeared in court Wednesday in a gray sweatsuit.
Police said he was living in Las Vegas for the past three years, trying to avoid the heat law enforcement was putting on his gang. Wednesday’s charges follow two related drug busts last year, officials said.
Police suspect Hoskins controlled about 250 gang members in Chicago and was trying to bring smaller gangs on the West Side under his control. He received most of his revenue from drug operations here, but was allegedly dabbling in illegal pharmaceutical sales in Nevada, too, police said.
Even though he was more than 1,700 miles away, he kept a close eye on his operations in Chicago, police said.
“He’d want to know ‘Who’s out on the spot?’ or ‘How come there’s no one selling out there?’” said James O’Grady, head of the Chicago Police Department’s narcotics division.
But he kept a low profile, O’Grady added.
“He didn’t fly first class,” he said.
The police department’s Organized Crime Bureau launched the investigation. Later, they partnered with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s strike force. Other federal agencies were involved in the case, too.
“This case is an example and should serve as a warning,” said Police Supt. Garry McCarthy. “We will not rest until everyone in this city enjoys the same sense of safety.”
Re: Imperial Insane Vice Lords Indicted - 10/11/1303:10 AM
That's hard to say. Dub I VLs is a branch and from other sources I read their not that large compared to the other branches of the VLN: Conservatives, Travelers, Unknowns and Mafia Insanes are the top largest. The quantity and quality of their drug spots varies. It seems the Hobos were one of those money cliques.
Re: Imperial Insane Vice Lords Indicted - 10/11/1303:23 AM
Cookcounty, you stated that Chicago street mobs aren't organized yet here's solid evidence that proves of a hierarchy ( King,Prince, Elites, etc) . Where's your counter source beside your opinion ? This might be true that they never been federally indicted and again what source do you have to prove the group doesn't have 150 active members?
That's not much evidence about cliques formation, last time I check they been forming cliques since the 90s and perhaps before. Well that's obvious where you live but there's several cities in cookcounty , do you Chicago ? Chicago surburbs? Other cities? And if your from there it should be relatively easy for you to upload a mountain of documents. Again you might be right since the Dub I have lesser members compared to the other branches. I notice you went around my inquiry about their structure.
Special Chicago Police Department (CPD) Units executed a roundup in the 1400 block of N. Damen recently which resulted in the 12 people taken into custody, including two who had arrest warrants.
Information from that roundup aided in a 33-person take-down Wed., Oct. 9, according to Captain Marc Buslik, 14th Police District.
The 12 taken into custody relative to Wicker Park area drug and gang activity were not tied to the Milwaukee Ave. shooting or the Wicker Park shooting. While those two shootings involved gang members, they were not gang-against-gang conflicts. They were between individual gang members.
"There is no huge drug or gang presence in the Wicker Park area," explained Buslik. "We believe that the Wicker Park area arrests will shut down the drug trafficking that has been going on in the Damen area. However, drug sales are like legitimate business. Where there is an interest, a market will establish. We try to keep one step ahead of that."
The Wicker Park roundup provided information that aided in a major pre-dawn enforcement roundup yesterday. Chicago Police officers, DEA Agents and additional State and Federal partners arrested 33 individuals with alleged ties to the Imperial Insane Vice Lords, a violent, drug trafficking street gang. Ten defendants who allegedly directed or participated in the gang were charged in a federal racketeering conspiracy (RICO)* indictment for their roles in a series of violent crimes including murder, attempted murder and assault with a dangerous weapon, as well as distribution of controlled substances.
Street level drug dealers near North and Damen were part of the CPD Narcotics Division's targets. These street level dealers were supplied by the gang hierarchy. Other targeted dealer locations were in the areas of Augusta and Ridgeway, Division and Pulaski and Huron and Cicero.
The RICO conspiracy includes allegations that the Imperial Insane Vice Lords and their associates operated open air drug markets at various locations throughout Chicago, including the “Keystone Drug Market”. The open air drug market at Thomas and Keystone was bounded by Division Street to the north, Pulaski Road to the east, Augusta Boulevard to the south and Keystone Avenue to the west.
“Today, these dangerous criminals face serious time in a federal prison, and ten of the criminals face federal RICO charges for their role in the gang,” said Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. “This case is an example and should serve as a warning. Make no mistake, we stand here today with a clear message to those who bring violence and crime to our communities – we will do everything in our power to hold dangerous criminals accountable for the crimes they commit.”
What ended up as a major multi-agency enforcement operation began as an investigation with personnel assigned to the CPD's Bureau of Organized Crime’s Narcotics Division. Officers assigned to intercept and prohibit gang controlled street level narcotics sales initiated this investigation. As the investigation progressed Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents and CPD Task Force Officers assigned to the Chicago Strike Force partnered with CPD Narcotics and Gang Investigation personnel to take this case to the next level and into the Federal arena.
The Chicago Strike Force, which is part of a sustained, coordinated effort by federal law enforcement agencies, working together with the Chicago Police and other state and local departments, to disrupt Chicago’s sophisticated, often violent, drug-trafficking organizations operates under the umbrella of the U.S. Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). The Strike Force helped bring the investigation to its successful conclusion and was integral in securing federal charges. Also participating in this investigation were the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; the Department of Homeland Security, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
This latest round of charges is the third. The first was in Jun 2012 and the second June 2013. Through the course of this operation and the utilization of a broad range of investigative techniques, every level of this criminal street gang's membership has been identified, from street level workers to the so-called “king." The federal indictments allege that the members and associates of this criminal street gang enriched their leaders and members through illegal drug-trafficking. To achieve that end, the charges allege that the gang demonstrated a callous disregard for human life and the well-being of the communities in which they operated; using violence and murder to protect their power and advance their criminal enterprise.
Re: Imperial Insane Vice Lords Indicted - 10/13/1306:47 AM
"A member of the West Side faction called Syndicate Four spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times about his faction, which is older than many in the city. It was formed in 1992 after a squabble inside a traditional gang called the Four Corner Hustlers." "It’s basically a money clique,” he said." http://www.suntimes.com/news/crime/7259451-418/street-gangs-forge-new-business-model.html
Re: Imperial Insane Vice Lords Indicted - 10/13/1306:54 AM
It was the northside faction and they only control 4 blocks. It depends on quantity &/ or quality at these locations. These drug spots can earns multi thousands daily. What about the others on west side? After all that side of town is mostly VL area (black mobs wise).
Is the group under the Insane Vice Lords or are they the updated version of Insane Vice Lord. They have to have 1000 members at least then if they are.
I don't have to look for another, you said there wasn't any cliques back then and you was wrong. No need to be proven a third time. Again you avoided my questions. Was it four blocks in total or just northside faction? Just a headline and what's your point?
Imperial Insane are an individual branch and the same for Insanes. There are four branches with that title: Cicero, Imperials, Mafia, and regular Insane. Mafia Insane are the largest of the four and Dub Is have around 250 members according to the recent case. But that's in Chicago not counting the membership in other states.
Re: Imperial Insane Vice Lords Indicted - 11/03/1507:12 AM
Federal prosecutors have already convicted the so-called “king” of the Imperial Insane Vice Lords.
Now they’re putting the “prince” on trial.
Joseph “Little Joe” Faulkner and Otis “O” Sykes are charged in a federal indictment for their roles in a conspiracy involving an open-air drug market at Thomas and Keystone on the West Side. That document describes Faulkner, at times, as “prince” — and a five-star universal elite member of the Vice Lords.
The bench trial in front of U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo began with opening statements Monday.
Prosecutors have said Faulkner ran the West Side drug market, mixed and supplied the heroin and collected the proceeds until his arrest in February 2011. Nathaniel Hoskins, the so-called Vice Lord “king” convicted in a bench trial earlier this year, decided who could sell drugs there, according to the feds.
However, Faulkner himself eventually became “king,” prosecutors have acknowledged.
Faulkner ran the drug market for at least 15 years and at times made $20,000 to $30,000 a day, according to the feds. Prosecutors have described Sykes as a “worker” for Faulkner, though Sykes’ attorney said Monday his client was not part of the gang.
Prosecutors also said Faulkner set out in January 2010 to kill a man named Tony Carr who sold marijuana just south of Division and Pulaski because Faulkner wanted to take over that territory — and “get with” Carr’s girlfriend.
The feds say Troy Ross, another five-star universal elite member of the Vice Lords, shot Carr in the legs in a cell phone store at Faulkner’s direction on Jan. 15, 2010. Faulkner was in the store at the time of the shooting and can be seen on surveillance video, records show.
But Faulkner’s attorney, Steven Greenberg, said the shooting had everything to do with a dispute over drugs between Ross and Carr.
“No one says that Joe Faulkner put anyone up to it until the feds come calling,” Greenberg said during opening statements.
Bucklo earlier this year convicted Hoskins, Julian “Light Bright” Martin and Torrie King for their roles in the racketeering conspiracy.
