Federal Grand Jury Indicts Chicago Man for Allegedly Committing Murder to Maintain and Increase Position in Violent Street Gang

CHICAGO — A Chicago man sought to maintain and increase his position in a violent street gang when he fatally shot a man in a South Side store two days before Christmas in 2014, according to a federal indictment unsealed today.

PIERRE ROBINSON, 25, of Chicago, is charged with committing murder in aid of racketeering.  He pleaded not guilty today at his arraignment in U.S. District in Chicago.  A status hearing was scheduled for Dec. 19, 2018, at 9:00 a.m., before U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp, Jr.

The indictment accuses Robinson of murdering Glenn Houston on Dec. 23, 2014, for the purpose of maintaining and increasing Robinson’s position in the Evans Mob street gang.  Houston, 23, was fatally shot inside a store in the 400 block of East 79th Street in Chicago’s Chatham neighborhood.

The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Celinez Nunez, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; and Eddie Johnson, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vikas Didwania and Rajnath Laud.

The indictment alleges that the Evans Mob, also known as “GuttaGang,” is a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in narcotics trafficking and committed acts of violence, including murder, attempted murder and assault, to acquire and preserve the gang’s territory on the South Side of Chicago.  Members of the Evans Mob publicly claimed responsibility for their acts of violence, taunted rival gang members, and took steps to prevent law enforcement’s detection of criminal activities, according to the indictment.

The indictment accuses Robinson of intentionally murdering Houston after substantial planning and premeditation. 

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.  Murder in aid of racketeering is punishable by a mandatory sentence of life in prison, and the death penalty is also possible.   If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.