12 Charged In West Side Heroin Ring; Feds Seize Drugs, Gun And $892K In Cash
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Twelve men face federal drug charges, after authorities busted a ring that allegedly sold 500 grams of heroin a week in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side.
Federal authorities seized 1.5 kilograms of heroin, a half kilo of crack cocaine, more than $892,000 in cash from drug sales, and a stolen handgun as part of the case, prosecutors said.
Federal prosecutors said 42-year-old Diamond Lake operated the drug ring from his home in west suburban Bellwood, where he stored large quantities of heroin to sell on the street.
Lake and 10 other men have been charged with drug conspiracy, including: Darnell Hudson, 42, of Chicago; Antwion Williams, 43, of Berwyn; Derron Barton, 42, of Chicago; Steven Moore, 41, of Chicago; Romell Ratliff, 40, of Chicago; Deandre Hughes, 23, of Chicago; Lawrence Jones, 41, of Chicago; Clayvon Vivetter, 30, of Chicago; Willie Blake, 39, of Chicago, and Eddie Young, 39 of Chicago. All 11 face 10 to 40 years in prison if convicted.
A twelfth man, 36-year-old Tyjuan Yates, of Chicago, has been charged with illegal drug possession. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors said Lake, Williams, and Hudson wrapped heroin in distinct tinfoil packaging and stapled the packages inside Ziploc bags. Williams, Hudson, and Barton then allegedly distributed the bags to street dealers, including Moore, Ratliff, Hughes, Jones, Vivetter, Blake, and Young.
Williams, Hudson, and Barton later would collect drug money from the dealers, and deliver it to Lake, according to the charges.
The feds allegedly recorded the defendants talking about the drug scheme on multiple phone calls, according to charges unsealed on Thursday. Some of the drug sales also were recorded on Chicago police pod cameras outside a home in the 100 block of North LaPorte Avenue.
Prosecutors said most of the sales happened in the Austin neighborhood, with the drug ring selling at least 10 kilograms of heroin on the West Side from May to October.
Yates was arrested in June, after police discovered approximately 109 grams of packaged heroin in his car in the 4400 block of West Fulton Street, prosecutors said.
