54 slayings, more than 80 charged: As Chicago’s gangs have changed, so have federal RICO prosecutions
CHICAGO — The victims met their fates over two decades in every corner of the city: informants shot execution-style, rivals gunned down in barbershops and restaurants, a rapper targeted after online taunts, an innocent bystander felled by bullets sprayed at a pickup basketball game.
At least 54 people slain and dozens more wounded in shootings stretching from Englewood to Garfield Park to the Gold Coast — and all of them now included in a string of recent federal racketeering cases against reputed members of Chicago street gangs.
The announcement earlier this month of a racketeering indictment charging the Wicked Town gang faction with 19 of those killings was the latest in a concerted push by federal investigators to go after those believed to be driving the gun violence in Chicago, which has reached levels not seen in years.
The Wicked Town indictment was at least the ninth major case since 2017, charging more than 80 reputed gang members under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — commonly referred to as RICO. Many of those charged with specific acts of violence face mandatory life in prison, or even the death penalty, if convicted at trial.
The gangs allegedly responsible for the violence range from well-established organizations such as the Latin Kings and Four Corner Hustlers
