Four Men Indicted on Federal Racketeering Charge for Allegedly Murdering Man To Increase Position in Chicago Street Gang

CHICAGO — Four men have been indicted on a federal racketeering charge for allegedly murdering a man to maintain and increase their positions in a violent Chicago street gang.

JOSHUA BROUGHTON, 34, of Chicago, CHRISTOPHER SINGLETON, 24, of Chicago, JARON DAVIS, 22, of Lansing, Ill., and GRIEG MACON, 27, of Chicago, are charged with racketeering and firearm offenses in an indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.  The indictment accuses the four defendants of murdering Ogonnia Okeke on June 1, 2021, for the purpose of maintaining and increasing their positions in the Rack City street gang.  Okeke, 25, was fatally shot in the Princeton Park neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.

The indictment alleges that the Rack City gang is a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in narcotics trafficking and committed acts of violence to preserve and protect the gang’s perceived territory.  Members of the gang intimidated rivals, victims, and witnesses through acts and threats of violence, boasted about their gang on social media, and took steps designed to prevent law enforcement from detecting their criminal activities, according to the indictment.  Eight other alleged members or associates of the Rack City gang were charged last year with firearm or drug offenses as part of the federal investigation.

Davis was arrested on Wednesday.  He pleaded not guilty during his arraignment Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Chicago.  The three other defendants were previously arrested and remain in federal custody.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office will seek to keep all four defendants detained pending trial.

The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Robert W. “Wes” Wheeler, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department.  Valuable assistance was provided by the Illinois State Police Firearm Investigation Unit, IRS Criminal Investigation Chicago Field Office, Rosemont, Ill. Police Department, and Cook County Sheriff’s Office.  The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jimmy L. Arce, Margaret A. Steindorf, and Elly M. Peirson.

The case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles drug traffickers and other criminal offenders that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement against criminal networks.

Murder in aid of racketeering is punishable by a mandatory sentence of life in prison, and the death penalty is also possible.  The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.