More members of "super gang" in Chicago are given life sentences
CHICAGO -- Life sentences have been handed down to two more leaders of a notorious "super gang" for their roles in multiple murders that were part of a vast drug-trafficking conspiracy, CBS Chicago reports.
The life sentences imposed on Derrick Vaughn and William Ford are the fifth and sixth involving the gang.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joel Levin said all are well-deserved because the gang showed no concern for human life, CBS Chicago reports.
He said during one 15-month stretch of freedom for the oft-imprisoned Ford, he allegedly committed a double murder and shot six other people - a rate of one every two months.
Levin said the gang showed "no regard for human life" and thought nothing of killing both rivals and people who were innocent "but happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said the sentences send the message to the gangs that there are consequences for their actions. About this gang, he minced no words.
"I remember them when I was a beat cop, and they just wreaked havoc over this city," he said. "They earned every day of the sentences that they got."
Ten members of the Hobos street gang have been either convicted or pleaded guilty. Five have been sentenced to life in prison, while others have received lengthy prison time.
All were convicted on various charges, including racketeering conspiracy, which alleges a pattern of organized criminality.
Authorities say the Hobos engaged in a 10-year "reign of terror," committing numerous murders, attempted murders, and distributing illegal drugs during that period of time,