Reputed Leader of Black Disciples Street Gang Darnell "Murder" McMiller" Among 23 Defendants Charged in Federal Drug and Gun Investigation #Chicago

The alleged leader of the Black Disciples street gang in Chicago is among 23 individuals facing criminal charges as part of a federal investigation into drug and gun trafficking on the city’s South Side.

During the multi-year investigation, law enforcement seized 24 firearms, more than 13 kilograms of cocaine, more than a kilogram of heroin, approximately 1,350 grams of heroin laced with fentanyl, approximately 750 grams of fentanyl or fentanyl analogue, approximately 378 grams of crack cocaine, $52,595 in suspected illicit cash proceeds, and distribution quantities of suspected MDMA pills. Much of the alleged drug and gun trafficking occurred in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago.

Indictments and criminal complaints unsealed this week in U.S. District Court in Chicago charge 22 of the defendants with various drug or firearm offenses, while one defendant faces bank fraud charges. The defendants were arrested and have begun making initial appearances in federal court.

Included among the defendants is DARNELL MCMILLER, also known as “Murder,” who is described in the charges as the current leader of the Black Disciples street gang in Chicago. Several other alleged high-ranking members of the Black Disciples were also charged and arrested, including CLARENCE JANUARY, who allegedly leads the gang’s “Dog Pound” faction, and KENNETH BROWN, who allegedly supplied the gang with drugs for distribution in Chicago. CHARLES KNIGHT, an alleged high-ranking member of the Gangster Disciples street gang, is charged as part of the probe with supplying narcotics to McMiller’s crew.

The investigation was led by the FBI and Chicago Police Department, with assistance from ATF, DEA, IRS Criminal Investigation Division, the Chicago High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force (HIDTA), and the FBI Windy City Task Force.

The Black Disciples are a national street gang that is prevalent throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. According to the charges, members of the Black Disciples have been distributing narcotics and guns in the Englewood neighborhood and other parts of Chicago. The charges describe more than 50 illicit transactions in which alleged Black Disciples members sold guns or drugs to individuals who were cooperating with law enforcement. In many instances, the cooperating individuals surreptitiously video-recorded the transaction at the direction of law enforcement.

The complaint against McMiller, 34, of Chicago, accuses him of conspiring with Knight, 56, of Riverdale, to distribute fentanyl-laced heroin to a cooperating individual on Sept. 30, 2019. The transaction occurred in the 7000 block of South Lowe Avenue in Chicago, the complaint states.

Brown, 59, of Chicago, is charged with conspiring with alleged Black Disciple member TERRENCE MORRIS, 48, of Chicago, to distribute heroin in March 2019. During the investigation, law enforcement carried out a court-authorized search of a South Side storage unit rented by Brown and discovered 13 kilograms of cocaine, which were individually wrapped in sealed packages, the charges state.

January, 27, of Chicago, is accused of trafficking three handguns in the summer of 2019. He had previously been convicted of a felony firearm offense in the Circuit Court of Cook County and was not lawfully allowed to possess the guns. Several other convicted felons were also charged with unlawfully possessing firearms, including rifles and a shotgun furnished to members of the Black Disciples.

Charged with federal drug offenses are: McMiller; Knight; Brown; Morris; ALONZO BROOKS, 49, of Chicago; SHONGO COLLIER, 48, of Riverdale; LAWRENCE DRAUS, 41, of Crestwood; FREDRICK STEWART, 47, of Chicago; TONY REDDING, 44, of Chicago; RAMONT AUSTIN, 39, of Chicago; FRANKLIN REDDING, 46, of Chicago; BARRY MICKIEL, 49, of Chicago; BRIAN BILLUPS, 40, of Plainfield; JOSEPH ANDERSON, 43, of Chicago; and SANTANA STEELE, 36, of Chicago.

Charged with federal firearm offenses are January; ANTOINE MCDANIELS, 44, of Chicago; DEANDRE MARTIN, 32, of Chicago; WILLIE ALFORD, 45, of Chicago; TRAVIS WASHINGTON, 24, of Chicago; WENDELL KEMP, 55, of Chicago; and SHAWN HUDSON, 48, of Harvey.

Charged with bank fraud is JOHN ECTOR, 47, of Chicago.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office holds gun offenders accountable through Project Guardian and Project Safe Neighborhoods – the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategies.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office has deployed the Guardian and PSN programs to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, including by prosecuting individuals who illegally possess firearms.  Additional federal law enforcement resources were recently allocated to Chicago under Operation Legend, which will enhance existing efforts by federal law enforcement agencies working in conjunction with state and local law enforcement offices to fight violent crime.

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Two Men Assassinated in Mob Hit by Foreign Gangsters!

Two men gunned down on the island of Corfu, a 46-year-old Serbian and 43-year-old Montenegrin were likely the victims of a war between two rival gangs based in the city of Kotor in Montenegro, initial reports said.

The assassinations outside their holiday villa on one of Greece's most popular islands, with tourists far fewer during the COVID-19 pandemic, shocked locals although there are periodic underworld murders across Greece.

The Hellenic Police (ELAS) and Serbian media reports indicated that the victims were high-ranking members of the Skaljari gang and were murdered by members of the rival Kavac gang, said Kathimerini.

Their bullet-riddled bodies were found by a masseur with whom the two men had made an appointment for a professional massage in the parking lot of the holiday home, inside a rented car.

Both gangs have taken their names from the districts of the city of Kotor where they are based. They once formed one gang trafficking drugs from South America into Europe, according to reports.

The gang, however, split into two in 2014 over a cocaine deal, the schism leading to a deadly feud involving other mobsters from Montenegro and Serbia, both countries with notorious organized crime mobs.

Thanks to TNH Staff.

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ComEd Pays $200 Million to Resolve Bribery Scheme Amid Reports of Allegedly Arranging Jobs and Contracts for Political Allies of Michael Madigan?

Commonwealth Edison Company (“ComEd”), the largest electric utility in Illinois, has agreed to pay $200 million to resolve a federal criminal investigation into a years-long bribery scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago announced.

The criminal investigation of ComEd is being resolved with a deferred prosecution agreement under which ComEd admitted it arranged jobs, vendor subcontracts, and monetary payments associated with those jobs and subcontracts, for various associates of a high-level elected official for the state of Illinois, to influence and reward the official’s efforts to assist ComEd with respect to legislation concerning ComEd and its business. The U.S. Attorney’s Office today filed a one-count criminal information in U.S. District Court in Chicago charging ComEd with bribery. Under the agreement, the government will defer prosecution on the charge for three years and then seek to dismiss it if ComEd abides by certain conditions, including continuing to cooperate with ongoing investigations of individuals or other entities related to the conduct described in the bribery charge.

The deferred prosecution agreement, which is subject to approval by the U.S. District Court, requires ComEd to pay a $200 million fine. A court date for the approval hearing has not yet been scheduled.

The bribery charge and deferred prosecution agreement were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago office of the FBI; and Kathy A. Enstrom, Special Agent-in-Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division in Chicago. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Amarjeet S. Bhachu, Diane MacArthur, Timothy J. Chapman, Sarah E. Streicker, Matthew L. Kutcher, and Michelle Kramer.

In addition to the monetary penalty and obligation to continue cooperating with government investigations, ComEd’s obligations under the deferred prosecution agreement include enhancing its compliance program and providing annual reports to the government regarding remediation and implementation of its compliance measures. If ComEd fails to completely perform or fulfill each of its obligations under the agreement during the three-year term, the U.S. Attorney’s Office can initiate prosecution of the charged offense.

ComEd’s admissions regarding the charged conduct are contained in a Statement of Facts attached to the deferred prosecution agreement. ComEd admitted that its efforts to influence and reward the high-level elected official – identified in the Statement of Facts as “Public Official A” – began in or around 2011 and continued through in or around 2019. During that time, the Illinois General Assembly considered bills and passed legislation that had a substantial impact on ComEd’s operations and profitability, including legislation that affected the regulatory process used to determine the electricity rates ComEd charged its customers. Public Official A controlled what measures were called for a vote in the Illinois House of Representatives and exerted substantial influence over fellow lawmakers concerning legislation affecting ComEd. The company admitted that it arranged for jobs and vendor subcontracts for Public Official A’s political allies and workers even in instances where those people performed little or no work that they were purportedly hired by ComEd to perform.

In addition to the jobs and contracts, ComEd further admitted that it undertook other efforts to influence and reward Public Official A, including by appointing an individual to ComEd’s Board of Directors at the request of Public Official A; retaining a particular law firm at the request of Public Official A; and accepting into the company’s internship program a certain amount of students who resided in the Chicago ward where Public Official A was associated.

To date, ComEd has provided substantial cooperation with the federal investigations. Per the terms of the agreement, the company will continue to provide such cooperation until all investigations and prosecutions arising out of the charged conduct are concluded.

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Michael Miske Jr Arrested by Feds as Alleged Organized Crime Boss in Hawaii, 10 Others included on 22 Charge Indictment Including Use of Chemical Weapons

Kenji M. Price, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii, Eli S. Miranda, Special Agent in Charge of the Honolulu Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), Tom Murdock, Special Agent in Charge of the Seattle Field Office of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (“IRS-CI”), Josh Allen, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Office of the Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigative Division (“EPA-CID”), Lucia Cabral-Dearmas, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Honolulu Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), and Aaron Joseph, Regional Agent in Charge of the Seattle Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (“ATF”) announced the unsealing of a Superseding Indictment charging MICHAEL J. MISKE, JR., and 10 other defendants with racketeering conspiracy and other offenses. The Superseding Indictment includes charges against MISKE for his role in the kidnapping and murder of 21-year-old Johnathan Fraser in July 2016.

A prior Indictment, which charged MISKE and another defendant with participation in a cocaine trafficking conspiracy, was also unsealed.

Eight of the defendants were arrested on Wednesday and as of that day, one defendant has not been arrested and remains at large. Two of the defendants, LANCE BERMUDEZ and DAE HAN MOON, were already in state custody. The case has been assigned to United States District Judge Derrick K. Watson.


As alleged in the Superseding Indictment unsealed in Hawaii federal court[1]:

From at least in or about the late 1990s, up to and including the date of the Superseding Indictment, MICHAEL J. MISKE, JR., aka “Bro,” JOHN B. STANCIL, KAULANA FREITAS, aka “Shorty,” LANCE L. BERMUDEZ, aka “Hammah,” DEA HAN MOON, aka “Dayday,” PRESTON M. KIMOTO, HARRY K. KAUHI, aka “Harry Boy,” NORMAN L. AKAU III, HUNTER J. WILSON, and JARRIN K. YOUNG, the defendants, and others known and unknown, conspired to conduct and participate in the conduct of the affairs of a racketeering enterprise, the “Miske Enterprise,” through a pattern of racketeering activity. The racketeering activity included acts involving murder, kidnapping, arson, and robbery. It also included acts relating to murder-for-hire, chemical weapons, extortionate credit transactions, racketeering, interference with commerce through robbery and extortion, drug trafficking, wire fraud, fraud in connection with identification documents, financial institution fraud, the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act, money laundering, and obstruction of justice.

From at least in or about March 2016 and continuing to on or about July 30, 2016, MISKE conspired with others to kidnap and murder 21-year-old Johnathan Fraser. In March 2016, MISKE instructed a co-conspirator to develop a plan for kidnapping and murdering Fraser, and told that co-conspirator that he/she could name the price for carrying out the murder. In or about June 2016, MISKE arranged for the purchase of a Boston Whaler vessel that could be used to dump Fraser’s body into the ocean after Fraser was kidnapped and killed. On or about July 30, 2016, Fraser was kidnapped and killed. On that same day, another of MISKE’s co-conspirators took Fraser’s significant other on a “spa day,” thereby ensuring that Fraser and his significant other would be separated from each other when Fraser was kidnapped.

MISKE and other members and associates of the Miske Enterprise participated in various other acts of violence:

• In or about 2016, MISKE, STANCIL, BERMUDEZ, MOON, and KAUHI conspired to commit the murder-for-hire of an individual (“Victim-1”) whom MISKE suspected of cooperating with law enforcement.
• On or about May 23, 2017, MISKE and STANCIL attempted to cause the death of another person (“Victim-2”) and committed an assault of Victim-2, and did so using at least one firearm.
• From the late 1990s and continuing to in or about 2018, MISKE, STANCIL, BUNTENBAH, and others known and unknown, conspired to commit assaults in aid of racketeering.
• In or about October 2017, MISKE, KIMOTO, and others known and unknown conspired to kidnap another person (“Victim-3”) in Honolulu, Hawaii. Two of MISKE’s co-conspirators, acting on MISKE’s instructions, kidnapped Victim-3 in Honolulu and restrained him/her in their vehicle.
• In or about 2016, STANCIL, BERMUDEZ, KAUHI, and AKAU participated in a gunpoint robbery of another person (“Victim-4”) during which they robbed Victim-4 of methamphetamine.
• On or about August 24, 2016, BERMUDEZ and WILSON participated in a gunpoint robbery of another person (“Victim-5”) during which they robbed Victim-5 of controlled substances.

In or about March 2017, MISKE, STANCIL, and FREITAS, and others known and unknown, conspired to release a chemical weapon, namely, chloropicrin, into nightclubs in Honolulu, Hawaii. As part of this conspiracy, chloropicrin was released into two different nightclubs.

Multiple defendants conspired to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, including methamphetamine, cocaine, oxycodone, and marijuana.

Between on or about April 21, 2017 and July 3, 2017, MISKE and others participated in a scheme to defraud Bank of Hawaii through the preparation and submission of materially false documents as part of loan applications.

Mr. Price praised the outstanding investigative work of the FBI, IRS-CI, EPA-CID, HSI, and ATF. He also thanked the Honolulu Police Department for the work of personnel who participated in this matter in their role as Task Force Officers with the FBI, and thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Coast Guard Investigative Service, the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, the Hawaii National Guard, 93rd Civil Support Team, and the Office of Investigations–Office of the Inspector General for the Social Security Administration for their assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Nammar, Micah Smith, and Mark A. Inciong are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marion Percell is in charge of the forfeiture component of the case.

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In order to #KAG, President Trump and William Barr Announce Dismantling of MS-13 Leadership via Terrorism Charges and Seeking of Death Penalty Due to Joint Task Force Vulcan

President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr announced significant cases related to Joint Task Force Vulcan (JTFV), an initiative launched in August 2019 aimed at disrupting, dismantling, and ultimately, destroying MS-13.

President Trump and Attorney General Barr announced a number of significant cases associated with JTFV, including the first time an MS-13 member has been charged with terrorism-related offenses, a coordinated multi-district take down of the leadership of the Hollywood clique of MS-13, and the Attorney General’s decision to seek the death penalty against an MS-13 defendant.


“In 2017, the President directed the Department of Justice to go to war against MS-13, and we did just that,” said Attorney General Barr. “In coordination with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department’s law enforcement components have successfully investigated, charged, and arrested command and control elements of MS-13 responsible for murder. Joint Task Force Vulcan’s operations have significantly degraded MS-13 capabilities. While there is still work to be done, the Department of Justice remains committed to protecting Americans threatened by MS-13, and we will not rest until we have successfully defeated this transnational criminal organization.”

“Today’s announcements are the result of tremendous teamwork and coordination between prosecutors and law enforcement officers across the United States and Central America,” said JTFV Director John Durham. “MS-13 is a violent transnational criminal organization, whose criminal activities respect no boundaries. The only way to defeat MS-13 is by targeting the organization as a whole, focusing on the leadership structure, and deploying a whole-of-government approach against a common enemy.”

In an indictment unsealed yesterday, Melgar Diaz was charged in the Eastern District of Virginia with conspiring to provide material support to terrorists; conspiring to kill or maim persons overseas; conspiring to commit acts of terrorism transcending national boundaries; conspiring to finance terrorism, and; conspiring to engage in narco-terrorism, in addition to racketeering conspiracy and drug trafficking. This is the first time that an MS-13 member has been charged with terrorism-related offenses.

Alexi Saenz was indicted in 2017 in the Eastern District of New York. It is alleged that between 2016 and 2017 he committed seven murders: the Jan. 28, 2016, murder of Michael Johnson; the April 29, 2016, murder of Oscar Acosta; the Sept. 13, 2016, murders of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens; the Oct. 10, 2016, murder of Javier Castillo; the Oct. 13, 2016, murder of Dewann Stacks, and; the Jan. 30, 2017, murder of Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla. Two of the victims were Brentwood high school students killed with a machete and baseball bat. The Attorney General has filed a Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty for Saenz.

In a 24 count indictment unsealed yesterday, the Eastern District of New York, charged eight MS-13 members, including leaders of the East Coast Hollywood Program, with Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) and Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) charges related to six murders, two attempted murders, kidnapping, narcotics, and related firearms offenses.

In a 21-count indictment unsealed yesterday in the District of Nevada, 13 MS-13 members, including leaders of the “Hollywood Locos” clique and “Los Angeles Program,” were charged with various offenses including Continuing Criminal Enterprise (CCE), narcotics distribution and weapons charges.

In August 2019, Attorney General Barr created JTFV to carry out the recommendations of the MS-13 subcommittee formed under the Attorney General’s Transnational Organized Crime Task Force, which was the result of President Trump’s February 2017 Executive Order directing the Departments of Justice, State, and Homeland Security, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, to coordinate a whole-of-government approach to dismantle transnational criminal organizations, such as MS-13, and restore safety for the American people. The principal purpose of JTFV is to coordinate and lead the efforts of the Justice Department and U.S. law enforcement agencies against MS-13 in order to dismantle the group.

JTFV has successfully implemented the whole-of-government approach to law enforcement relating to MS-13; increased coordination and collaboration with foreign law enforcement partners, including El Salvador, Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala; designated priority MS-13 programs, cliques and leaders, who have the most impact on the U.S., for targeted prosecutions, and; coordinated significant MS-13 indictments in U.S. Attorney’s Offices across the country, such as the Eastern District of New York, the Eastern District of Virginia, and the District of Nevada.

Federal prosecutors from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division and the Criminal Division, as well as 10 U.S. Attorney’s Offices have been assigned to serve JTFV in full-time capacities: the Eastern District of New York; the Eastern District of Virginia; the District of Nevada; the Southern District of California; the District of Massachusetts; the Northern District of Ohio; the District of New Jersey; the Eastern District of Texas; the District of Utah, and; the District of Columbia. In addition, all Department of Justice law enforcement agencies are involved in the effort – the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. Marshals Service, and; the Bureau of Prisons. The Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations has also played a critical role in JTFV.

Attorney General Barr would also like to thank Attorney General Raul Melara of El Salvador for the assistance of his office, as well as investigators from El Salvador’s Policia Nacional Civil, Centro Antipandilla Transnacional unit for their assistance.

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