A federal jury has convicted six alleged leaders of the Hobos street gang of a racketeering conspiracy in the biggest gang trial in recent Chicago history. The verdicts follows six days of deliberation and a three-month trial. Hobos boss Gregory "Bowlegs" Chester, hitman Paris Poe and four others were accused of a racketeering conspiracy that included nine murders.
The U.S. attorney in Chicago says guilty verdicts against the leadership of the feared Hobos street gang should stand as a warning to other gangs. Zachary Fardon says "the Hobos street gang is as bad as it gets." And he says its top brass had a common vision and purpose, to be the most violent... ruthless and fierce gang on Chicago's South Side.
The trial comes at the end of a particularly bloody year in Chicago, where police blame gang rivalries for most of the 762 homicides. That's the most homicides in two decades.
Police cited gang attacks against rivals attending holiday gatherings in reports of more than 50 people shot during the Christmas holiday weekend, resulting in 11 deaths.
