Story Views
Now:
Last Hour:
Last 24 Hours:
Total:

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

A member of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation was sentenced to 300 months in prison today in Southern District of Florida for conspiracy to conduct and participate in the affairs of the gang through a pattern of racketeering activity.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Anderson of the FBI’s Chicago Field Division and Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Division made the announcement.

Miguel Pedraza, aka “Fuzzy,” 35, of Chicago, was sentenced to 300 months in prison for his involvement in the RICO conspiracy before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga of the Southern District of Florida.

According to Pedraza’s plea agreement, the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation is a violent street gang that originated in Chicago in the 1980s and expanded to other areas of the country, including Indiana and South Florida. Members and associates of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation are responsible for numerous acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, narcotics distribution and other criminal activities, occurring in Illinois, Indiana and the South Florida area and elsewhere.

According to admissions made in connection with his plea, Pedraza has been a member of the Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation since 1997 and that for a period of time, he took over the street leadership of the gang’s activities in the Drake and Courtland area of Chicago, Illinois. Pedraza admitted that while in Chicago on Aug. 3, 2002, he shot and killed another individual who Pedraza believed was a rival gang member. Pedraza also admitted that he received stolen guns from other Almighty Imperial Gangsters Nation members, distributed cocaine and heroin to other members, and earned money for other members and regularly financed activities through funds derived from narcotics distribution of controlled substances.

Pedraza is the last of 16 defendants to be sentenced in this case. Co-defendants Victor Emmanuel Lopez, aka “Magic,” Jose Ivan Herrera, “Spyro,” Ramon Madruga, aka “Porky,” Alex Enrique Somarriba, “A-Rock,” Robert Martinez, aka “Trap,” Santiago Salcedo, aka “Chino,” Rogelio Perez, aka “Popeye,” Carlos Mena, aka “Rollo,” Piero Benitez, aka “Bam Bam,” Eddie Camacho, aka “NeNe,” Carlos Gomez, aka “Lokes,” Guillermo Sinisterra, aka “Memo,” Elio Quesada, aka “Whiz,” and Brandon Foeman, aka “Drama.”

The FBI field offices in Miami and Chicago, along with the Miami-Dade Police Department; the City of Miami Police Department; the Chicago Police Department; the Franklin Park, Illinois, Police Department and the East Chicago Police Department investigated the case, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for Southern District of Florida, the Northern District of Indiana and the Northern District of Illinois, the FBI and ATF field offices in Merrillville, Indiana, the State Attorney’s Offices of Miami-Dade and Broward counties in Florida and the State Attorney’s Offices in Cook and DuPage Counties in Illinois, as well as the Florida Department of Corrections and the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.

Trial Attorneys Joseph A. Cooley, Rebecca A. Staton and Nicholas J. Regalia of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and the Forfeiture Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana and the State Attorneys’ Offices for Miami-Dade and Broward counties.