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Violent Chicago street gang member and 'shooter' convicted of murder and attempted murder

By FOX 32 Digital Staff
Updated  May 5, 2023 9:31pm CDT
Crime and Public Safety
FOX 32 Chicago

CHICAGO - A member of a violent Chicago street gang has been convicted of participating in a racketeering conspiracy that included murder and attempted murder.

Mardi Lane, 34, was a member and known "shooter" of the LAFA street gang, which violently controlled territory in Chicago's Jeffery Manor neighborhood.

The jury found that Lane personally participated in a murder and multiple attempted murders in 2015.

Twenty other defendants have been previously convicted as part of a multidistrict investigation.

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According to the investigation, from 2008 to 2018, LAFA members committed multiple murders, attempted murders, robberies and witness tampering while trafficking cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine and MDMA in Chicago and Duluth, Minnesota.

LAFA members also used violence and intimidation to protect the gang's enterprise and keep rivals and witnesses in fear of retaliation.

During their investigation, law enforcement officials seized 34 firearms, a machete and sheath, about a kilogram of cocaine, 78 pounds of marijuana, over $190,000 in suspected illicit cash proceeds, designer clothing appraised at more than $300,000, Rolex watches and numerous pieces of jewelry, including two necklaces containing 14-carat gold pendants with initials "LAFA" written in diamonds.

The following 20 individuals were also previously convicted in this investigation:

  • Akeem Asad, 31, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to drug charges.
  • Cottrell Mackey, 29, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, including participating in a 2014 murder. 
  • Dijon Fosten, 34, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, firearm, and drug charges.
  • Martez Easter, 30, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy. 
  • Reginald Jones, 29, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, including participating in a murder and attempted murder. 
  • Carey Hinton, 30, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy. 
  • Tony Parker, 28, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.
  • Quentin Lucious, 32, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.  
  • Rakim Asad, 30, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy, drug conspiracy and a firearm offense. 
  • Harriette McPherson, 50, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy.
  • Derrick McNeal, 50, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy. 
  • Rashad Underwood, 46, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to a drug charge.
  • Deonte Bingham, 42, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to a firearm charge. 
  • Kelvin Everett, 42, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to robbery and firearm offenses.
  • Gregory Blackwell, 33, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to robbery and firearm offenses. 
  • Quincy Wright, 41, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to robbery and firearm offenses.
  • Jerry Peoples, 46, of Chicago, was convicted by a federal jury in 2022 of robbery offenses.
  • Rachad Lucas, 42, of Calumet City, Ill., pleaded guilty to drug and firearm charges. 
  • Sincere Brannon, 23, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to a firearm charge. 
  • Ernesto Madrigal-Garza, 34, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to an immigration offense.