Chicago man freed from prison, given $25 million. He spent his second chance rebuilding his old gang
News
Chicago man freed from prison, given $25 million. He spent his second chance rebuilding his old gang
An iPhone video recorded Aug. 17, 2015, by Jose Roman, gang associate of Thaddeus Jimenez, shows the two men driving through the Irving Park neighborhood before Jimenez shoots Earl Casteel, a onetime gang member. Jimenez and Roman pleaded guilty in the case. (U.S. attorney's office)
Jason MeisnerContact ReporterChicago Tribune
The top was down on Thaddeus Jimenez's shiny Mercedes convertible and opera music blared on the stereo as he and a gang associate drove around Chicago's Northwest Side looking for someone to shoot.
Just three years earlier, Jimenez had won a staggering $25 million verdict for his wrongful murder conviction. But instead of building a new life, he used the windfall to rejuvenate his old gang, paying recruitment bonuses, buying guns and fancy cars, and even giving cash prizes to members willing to tattoo their faces with the Simon City Royals insignia.
Cruising the Irving Park neighborhood on that muggy Monday morning in August 2015, Jimenez carried a sapphire blue, custom-plated pistol and had Gucci luggage bags crammed with extra ammunition stowed in the back seat, court records show. His passenger, Jose Roman, held a .22-caliber Mossberg semiautomatic rifle at his side as he filmed their travels with his iPhone.
Shortly after 11 a.m., Jimenez pulled the Mercedes up to an ex-gang member who knew the two men and greeted them warmly. As the camera rolled, Earl Casteel, 33, was startled to hear Jimenez threaten him.
Thaddeus Jimenez and Jose Roman recorded themselves on Roman's iPhone driving in Irving Park prior to the shooting of 33-year-old Earl Casteel on Aug. 17, 2015. The men can be heard listening to opera music, flashing guns, yelling at passers-by and threatening authorities. (U.S. attorney's office)
In a recent court filing, federal prosecutors called the shooting a "uniquely appalling" act even for a city with a national reputation for rampant gang violence. Had Jimenez and Roman not been arrested, they likely would have posted the video on social media, alongside dozens of other clips depicting how Jimenez's influx of cash had put the Simon City Royals back on the map, prosecutors said.
"(Jimenez) could have used this money in any number of ways — to assist friends and family, contribute to the community, sponsor others wrongfully convicted or simply live in comfort for the rest of his natural life — instead he chose to build a gang," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle Petersen and Kathryn Malizia wrote.
Jimenez's zeal for the gang life didn't end with his arrest. Weeks after Casteel's shooting, authorities intercepted a six-page letter Jimenez wrote from Cook County Jail decrying "impostors" who had taken his money and assuring his fellow Royals he was still in control.
"When the big dawg is away, the cats will play," Jimenez wrote in neat printing. "Not a scratch on me, and yes, I'm still running the s---."
Prosecutors signaled they'll seek a 10-year prison term, the maximum possible, for Jimenez, while his attorney, Steven Greenberg, sought the minimum sentence, noting that his client had already spent 16 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit.
Once he was back on the streets, Jimenez had little guidance and quickly squandered what was left of his settlement on "status-enhancing material goods" and other efforts to rebuild his gang, Greenberg said.
"Ironically, the restitution he received for his terrible injuries did not bring healing, it just drew other vultures to pick at his wounds," wrote Greenberg, who asked U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber for a sentence of about 31/2 years.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @jmetr22b
Copyright © 2017, Chicago Tribune
A version of this article appeared in print on March 09, 2017, in the News section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "Cleared gang boss faces prison again - Blew millions from a wrongful conviction award, then busted after brazen shooting" —Today's paper | Subscribe
News
Chicago man freed from prison, given $25 million. He spent his second chance rebuilding his old gang
An iPhone video recorded Aug. 17, 2015, by Jose Roman, gang associate of Thaddeus Jimenez, shows the two men driving through the Irving Park neighborhood before Jimenez shoots Earl Casteel, a onetime gang member. Jimenez and Roman pleaded guilty in the case. (U.S. attorney's office)
Jason MeisnerContact ReporterChicago Tribune
The top was down on Thaddeus Jimenez's shiny Mercedes convertible and opera music blared on the stereo as he and a gang associate drove around Chicago's Northwest Side looking for someone to shoot.
Just three years earlier, Jimenez had won a staggering $25 million verdict for his wrongful murder conviction. But instead of building a new life, he used the windfall to rejuvenate his old gang, paying recruitment bonuses, buying guns and fancy cars, and even giving cash prizes to members willing to tattoo their faces with the Simon City Royals insignia.
Cruising the Irving Park neighborhood on that muggy Monday morning in August 2015, Jimenez carried a sapphire blue, custom-plated pistol and had Gucci luggage bags crammed with extra ammunition stowed in the back seat, court records show. His passenger, Jose Roman, held a .22-caliber Mossberg semiautomatic rifle at his side as he filmed their travels with his iPhone.
Shortly after 11 a.m., Jimenez pulled the Mercedes up to an ex-gang member who knew the two men and greeted them warmly. As the camera rolled, Earl Casteel, 33, was startled to hear Jimenez threaten him.
Thaddeus Jimenez and Jose Roman recorded themselves on Roman's iPhone driving in Irving Park prior to the shooting of 33-year-old Earl Casteel on Aug. 17, 2015. The men can be heard listening to opera music, flashing guns, yelling at passers-by and threatening authorities. (U.S. attorney's office)
In a recent court filing, federal prosecutors called the shooting a "uniquely appalling" act even for a city with a national reputation for rampant gang violence. Had Jimenez and Roman not been arrested, they likely would have posted the video on social media, alongside dozens of other clips depicting how Jimenez's influx of cash had put the Simon City Royals back on the map, prosecutors said.
"(Jimenez) could have used this money in any number of ways — to assist friends and family, contribute to the community, sponsor others wrongfully convicted or simply live in comfort for the rest of his natural life — instead he chose to build a gang," Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michelle Petersen and Kathryn Malizia wrote.
Jimenez's zeal for the gang life didn't end with his arrest. Weeks after Casteel's shooting, authorities intercepted a six-page letter Jimenez wrote from Cook County Jail decrying "impostors" who had taken his money and assuring his fellow Royals he was still in control.
"When the big dawg is away, the cats will play," Jimenez wrote in neat printing. "Not a scratch on me, and yes, I'm still running the s---."
Prosecutors signaled they'll seek a 10-year prison term, the maximum possible, for Jimenez, while his attorney, Steven Greenberg, sought the minimum sentence, noting that his client had already spent 16 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit.
Once he was back on the streets, Jimenez had little guidance and quickly squandered what was left of his settlement on "status-enhancing material goods" and other efforts to rebuild his gang, Greenberg said.
"Ironically, the restitution he received for his terrible injuries did not bring healing, it just drew other vultures to pick at his wounds," wrote Greenberg, who asked U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber for a sentence of about 31/2 years.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @jmetr22b
Copyright © 2017, Chicago Tribune
A version of this article appeared in print on March 09, 2017, in the News section of the Chicago Tribune with the headline "Cleared gang boss faces prison again - Blew millions from a wrongful conviction award, then busted after brazen shooting" —Today's paper | Subscribe
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