Federal authorities charge 16 in drug ring at Cabrini-Green led by alleged gang member
By Jeff Coen | Tribune staff reporter
December 19, 2007
Federal authorities moved against another street gang Tuesday, charging 16 people and derailing the Gangster Disciples' stranglehold on drug dealing at the Cabrini-Green public housing development.
The organization sold crack cocaine, heroin and marijuana around the clock, making more than $3 million a year, authorities said at a news conference. The ring allegedly operated near a school, from one of the last buildings at Cabrini-Green.
Agents and officers fanned out before dawn to arrest Rondell "Nightfall" Freeman, the alleged ring leader and a longtime Gangster Disciple, as well as others, authorities said.
"It's a season of giving, so our gift to the people up there, the good people, is to let them live now where they live without the constant fear of this drug organization all around them," said Andy Traver, special agent in charge of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Chicago.
"And our gift to Rondell Freeman and his organization is 10 to life," said Traver, referring to the prison sentence they face if convicted of conspiring to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine.
The ATF was assisted by agents from the Internal Revenue Service and Chicago police officers. IRS leaders said steps would be taken to confiscate proceeds from the organization, which allegedly had been in operation for almost a decade.
Freeman, 31, of Chicago, and the other 15 defendants -- drug sellers, supervisors, lookouts, suppliers and packagers -- were each charged with drug conspiracy. Five were considered fugitives late Tuesday.
The ring originally operated out of a building at 714 W. Division St., prosecutors said, and then moved several years ago to 1230 N. Burling St. when the first building was phased out. As part of the city's plan to transform public housing, the Chicago Housing Authority has demolished several of the high-rises at Cabrini-Green.
To try to thwart law enforcement, the ring packaged drugs at a location on Sheridan Road in Chicago, said Assistant U.S. Atty. Rachel Cannon.
Investigators worked on the case for two years, gathering extensive video, audio and visual surveillance of top players and a wealth of evidence from the garbage outside the Sheridan Road packaging site, authorities said.
"We found baggies with cocaine and heroin residue," said First Assistant U.S. Atty. Gary Shapiro. "We found antihistamines, which were used to cut the drugs. We found latex gloves with Freeman's fingerprints and we found records believed to be some of the drug ledgers of Freeman's operation."
