Department of Justice

CHICAGO — A Chicago man sought to maintain and increase his position in a violent street gang when he fatally shot a man outside a South Side gas station last fall, according to a federal indictment unsealed today.

 

DERRICK SWANSON, 22, of Chicago, is charged with committing murder in aid of racketeering, and illegally possessing a handgun. He was arrested this morning. Arraignment in U.S. District in Chicago has not yet been scheduled.

 

The indictment accuses Swanson of murdering Anthony Carter on Oct. 2, 2018, for the purpose of maintaining and increasing Swanson’s position in the Evans Mob street gang. Carter, 27, was fatally shot outside a gas station in the 800 block of East 79th Street in Chicago’s Grand Crossing neighborhood.

 

The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Timothy Jones, 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, Rajnath Laud, and Albert Berry III.

 

The indictment alleges that the Evans Mob, also known as “GuttaGang” and “HitzSquad,” 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 also renews a charge that was initially filed in November against another suspected Evans Mob member, PIERRE ROBINSON, 26, of Chicago. Robinson is accused of murdering Glenn Houston on Dec. 23, 2014, for the purpose of maintaining and increasing Robinson’s position in the gang. Houston, 23, was fatally shot inside a store about four blocks west of where Carter was killed.

 

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. Murder in aid of racketeering is punishable by a mandatory sentence of life in prison, and the death penalty is also possible. The illegal gun possession charge is punishable by up to ten years in prison. If convicted, the Court must impose reasonable sentences under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.