Chicago gang leader sentenced to life in prison
Labar Spann | 2010 mugshot
CHICAGO - A leader of Chicago's Four Corner Hustlers gang was sentenced to life in federal prison for his role in a violent criminal enterprise that operated for decades on the West Side.
Labar Spann, 47, was convicted last December after a five-week trial on charges including racketeering conspiracy, two murders in aid of racketeering and extortion.
Prosecutors said Spann participated in a criminal organization that terrorized neighborhoods including West Garfield Park and North Lawndale, as well as the former LeClaire Courts public housing development, through drug trafficking, robberies, extortion and violence.
He was sentenced to mandatory life in prison on Monday.
A federal jury found that Spann committed four premeditated killings as part of the conspiracy, including the murders of Rudy Rangel, Willie Woods, George King and Maximillion McDaniel between 2000 and 2003.
What they're saying:
"At defendant’s direction, his co-conspirators ruthlessly murdered, extorted, and robbed anyone in their way, from rival gang members, to law enforcement cooperators, to innocent bystanders," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan C. Morrissey, Michelle J. Parthum, and Emily C.R. Vermylen argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum. "His actions ended the lives of four men, depriving their families of time with their loved ones. The harm and pain caused to these families can never be repaired."
Evidence presented at trial included testimony from cooperating gang members, eyewitnesses, law enforcement officers and expert witnesses who analyzed forensic evidence.
Spann was indicted in 2017 alongside multiple co-defendants, all of whom have since been convicted.
The Source: The information in this report came from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois and previous Fox Chicago news coverage.