State Crime Reports

Leader of Chicago Street Gang Sentenced to 22 Years in Federal Prison for Dealing Guns and Drugs on West Side


CHICAGO —(ENEWSPF)–January 24, 2017.  A convicted felon who was a leader of the violent Gangster 2-6 Nation street gang has been sentenced to 22 years in prison on federal gun and drug charges.

A federal jury in 2015 convicted FRANCISCO MASIAS of selling cocaine and illegally possessing 16 handguns. Masias, who had previously been convicted of a felony, illegally acquired the guns from an associate. Masias then gave the guns to JOSE MALDONADO, a fellow gang member who in turn provided them to another gang member. Law enforcement seized the firearms before they could be further distributed.

Masias, Maldonado and more than 15 other defendants have been convicted as part of a joint federal, state and local investigation dubbed “Operation Shady Business.” The gang’s drug and gun activities were uncovered through the use of wiretaps, cooperating witnesses and surveillance. The probe was initiated by the Chicago Police Department and conducted under the umbrella of the U.S. Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), with assistance from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA).

U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer imposed the 264-month sentence for Masias on Friday in federal court in Chicago.

The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Eddie Johnson, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department; Dennis A. Wichern, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration; and James D. Robnett, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division. The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service provided valuable assistance.

Masias, 38, of Berwyn, was a longtime leader of the Gangster 2-6 Nation, which operated a violent drug-trafficking organization on the West Side of Chicago, predominantly in the Little Village area. Evidence at trial revealed that the gang violently protected its distribution of cocaine. During the investigation officers searched a Nottingham Park residence that had been converted into a marijuana grow house and seized more than 100 marijuana plants, which had an estimated street value of $1 million. JASON HERRERA, who resided at the grow house and served as security, pleaded guilty to a drug charge and was sentenced to five years in prison.

A jury convicted Maldonado, of Chicago, on gun and drug charges, and he was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew F. Madden and Ankur Srivastava.

Source: http://justice.gov

 


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