Side culminated Thursday with the arrests of nine people charged in separate indictments returned by a Federal Grand Jury and in a criminal complaint filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The arrests and charges were announced Friday morning by the FBI’s Chicago office, Chicago Police and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office. All of those arrested were taken into custody Thursday at various times and locations in and around Chicago, without incident, by members of the FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs and officers from the CPD, according to a release from the FBI. All of the defendants named in separate indictments were charged with possession and/or distribution of a controlled substance, either heroin or cocaine, while one defendant was also charged in a criminal complaint with distribution of a controlled substance (heroin). All of the charges are felony offenses. The three-year investigation leading to the filing of the charges announced Friday is part of an ongoing and coordinated effort by local, state and Federal authorities to identify and dismantle the many highly organized street gangs operating in Chicago, whose primary source of revenue is the sale of illicit drugs. This investigation, which resulted in the recovery of five weapons, over a kilogram of cocaine and nearly 500 grams of heroin, employed the extensive use of sophisticated physical surveillance techniques, the controlled and undercover purchase of illegal drugs and the court authorized interception of telephone conversations involving the defendants, the release said. This investigation was led by the Chicago FBI’s Joint Task Force on Gangs, which is comprised of FBI special agents and CPD officers. Additional assistance was provided during the investigation and arrests by the CPD’s Gang Intelligence and Organized Crime units; the Criminal Investigative Division of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Cook County State’s Attorney Office. “Our office will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to target those groups and individuals who choose to engage in the sale of illicit drugs, which often leads to entire neighborhoods being held hostage,” Robert D. Grant, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago FBI office, said. Those arrested yesterday are identified as: Valdemere Collier, 27, of the 6400 block of South Peoria Street; Terrance Elane, 40, of the 0-10 block of East 9th Street; Derrick Green, 33, of the 6400 block of South Morgan Street; Denitra Harris, 37, of the 6300 block of South Sangamon; Kalvin Harris, 34, of the 6600 block of South Wolcott; Eddie Hill, 54, of the 6600 block of South Normal; Mavric Johnson, 37, of the 5700 block of South Michigan Avenue; Clarence Jones, 39, of the 6200 block of South Langley Avenue; and John May, 39, of the 6400 block of South Peoria Street. All of those arrested appeared in U.S. District Court late Thursday, at which time they were formally charged. They were ordered held without bond, pending their next scheduled court appearance and will be housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago. If convicted of the charges filed against them, the defendants in this case face possible sentences ranging from five years to life in prison.
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