‘All-star’ crime gang convicted
JURORS who heard the biggest gang trial in recent Chicago history have convicted the core leadership of the Hobos.
The group was described by prosecutors as an “all-star team” of criminals whose ruthlessness reflected the kind of violence that led to the city’s alarming spike in murders.
To extend their power on the South Side, prosecutors said, the Hobos cultivated a reputation for brutality so terrifying to witnesses that some chose to go to jail rather than provide evidence against gang leaders.
The Hobos gang was “as bad as it gets,” US Attorney Zachary Fardon said after the verdicts.
He said the six defendants led a gang that was integral to a cycle of violence that often begins with the recruitment of small boys seeking a sense of security and belonging.
The conspiracy allegparked edly involved the murders of at least nine people, including gang rivals and government witnesses.
One victim was fatally shot in 2013 in front of his screaming stepchildren to stop him from testifying at the trial. Another incident involved the robbery of basketball player Bobby Simmons at gunpoint outside a nightclub for a $200,000 diamond-andgold chain.
After hearing three months of testimony, jurors Hobos boss Gregory “Bowlegs” Chester, alleged gang hitman Paris Poe and four others guilty.
They will be sentenced on June 23 and all face life imprisonment.