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Federal prosecutors have said there’s a tattoo on the left bicep of Labar “Bro Man” Spann that depicts the Grim Reaper wielding a smoking firearm.

He once boasted he was “born and raised” in the 3900 block of West Lexington Street, which became the heart of his notorious street gang’s drug operation. Authorities say Spann added, “If you ain’t off the 3900 block, f— you.”

Spann has also been known to answer his phone, “chief of the Four Corner Hustlers,” authorities say, declaring himself the head of a gang tied to at least nine murders since 2000, including the 2003 killing of Latin Kings boss Rudy “Kato” Rangel.

Now, four years after a sweeping racketeering indictment connected Spann to six of those murders — including Rangel’s — Spann faces trial starting with jury selection this week in what is perhaps the most significant street-gang trial at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse since 2016.

Spann’s defense attorneys did not respond to messages seeking comment.

A photo allegedly depicting tattoos on the chest and bicep of Labar Spann.U.S. District Court records

Court officials have spent years planning for what had been expected to be a three-defendant trial. But Tremayne “Trigga” Thompson and Juhwun Foster wound up pleading guilty in July to their roles in the West Side gang. By doing so, they left Spann alone to face the jury.

Still, prosecutors have said they expect Spann’s trial to last until mid-November, and they say subpoenas have been served to witnesses all over the country. The trial will play out under COVID-19 protocols that will restrict members of the public and the media to an overflow courtroom, where video of the trial will be streamed online.

Prosecutors also asked U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin in August to empanel an anonymous jury, noting that the Four Corner Hustlers “continue to operate today” and “have the capacity to harm jurors demonstrated by their alleged harm of others including witnesses.”

Labar “Bro Man” SpannChicago Police

Spann uses a wheelchair and was paralyzed in a 1999 shooting, records show. His trial will play out as Chicago again grapples with a particularly violent year — reminiscent of the 2016 racketeering trial of the Hobos street gang.

A court filing last month alleged that Spann, who has been held in the Livingston County Jail, was caught on recorded calls trying to interfere with his co-defendants’ guilty pleas and discussing who had been subpoenaed by the feds, saying, “I’m going to use them as my witnesses” and “I don’t give a f—, I’m already a step ahead of them.”

Spann also allegedly laughed when one witness told him the witness was “going to f— the trial up.”

The purported gang leader already faces a likely federal prison sentence of five or six years after he pleaded guilty in 2017 to illegal gun possession, drug and obstruction of justice charges in a separate case.

Prosecutors have identified Spann as the leader of the Four Corner Hustlers, which they’ve described as a group of West Side robbers, drug dealers and killers whose crimes date back to the mid-1990s.

The gang’s prosecution features links to other high-profile cases. For example, the feds sought last month to bar any mention at Spann’s trial of former Chicago Police Sgt. Xavier Elizondo, who helped secure wiretaps against the gang. Elizondo was convicted of multiple federal corruption counts in 2019 and is now serving a sentence of more than seven years at a high-security U.S. penitentiary in Louisiana, records show.

Chicago Police Sgt. Xavier Elizondo walks out of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times file photo

Spann’s trial also features a connection to the prosecution of the Sinaloa drug cartel once led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, who is now serving a life sentence in federal prison. That’s because Rangel, the late Latin Kings boss listed as one of Spann’s victims, had once been married to Valerie Gaytan, the daughter of a Chicago cop.

After Rangel’s death, Gaytan took up with Margarito Flores, one of the twin Chicago drug dealers who famously cooperated with the feds against “El Chapo.” Gaytan now faces federal charges of her own with Vivianna Lopez, the wife of Margarito’s brother Pedro. They are accused in a money-laundering conspiracy that allegedly began with the Flores’ surrender in December 2008.

Margarito Flores.Provided

Rangel was gunned down at a West Side barbershop in front of multiple witnesses on June 4, 2003, in what records have suggested was a murder-for-hire after Rangel stole 150 kilos of cocaine. His death inspired the rapper DMX to record a tribute titled, “A ‘Yo Kato.”

Spann’s attorneys have argued that the alleged contract on Rangel had nothing to do with the Four Corner Hustlers. But authorities say Spann also agreed to Rangel’s killing as a way of asserting his authority on the West Side.

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Just because summer if over doesn’t mean festivals have ended. The fall brings more events. Here’s the latest updates on this year’s changing entertainment landscape.

By

John Silver

Updated

Sep 13, 2021, 9:24am CDT

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At least 63 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, including a 12-year-old boy killed by his mother, and an off-duty firefighter and his 15-year-old niece wounded in one of two mass shootings in the city, according to police.

The boy, Kaden Ingram, died Saturday morning in the South Chicago neighborhood. He was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head about 10:30 a.m. in the 8000 block of South Bennett Avenue, police said.

His mother, Fallon Harris, 37, was charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors said Harris shot the boy after she pressed him about the whereabouts of a digital memory card she had removed from her car the previous night.

Harris’ family told authorities they had been worried about her mental health.

The firefighter and his niece were wounded in a mass shooting in West Pullman that killed a woman and injured three other people Saturday night, according to police and family.

The group was walking toward their cars after a birthday party in the 300 block of East Kensington Avenue when someone in a passing car opened fire around 9:35 p.m., police said.

Schenia Smith, 42, was hit in the arm and armpit, and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center where she was pronounced dead, police said.

The girl was also struck in the arm and transported in fair condition to Comer Children’s Hospital, police said.

The off-duty firefighter was shot in the face and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said. The 32-year-old man remained in critical condition Sunday night, according to Chicago Fire Department Deputy District Chief Curtis Hudson.

Another man, 38, was struck in the stomach and was taken to the hospital in fair condition.

A third man, 22, suffered gunshot wounds to the arm and leg and was transported to Roseland Community Hospital in fair condition, according to police.

A fourth man, 31, was grazed in the head and taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park, where he was listed in fair condition, police said.

Hours earlier, in another mass attack, a man was killed and three others were hurt in a drive-by shooting in Grand Crossing on the South Side. The men were standing outside about 4:55 p.m. in the 900 block of East 79th Street when a dark-colored SUV drove by and someone inside fired shots, police said.

A 24-year-old was shot in the head and was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, police said. He hasn’t been identified.

Another man, 28, was shot in the leg and was taken in good condition to the University of Chicago Medical Center, police said.

A 26-year-old man was struck in the ankle and another, 27, was shot in the leg, police said. They were both taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in good condition.

Other shootings:

In Lawndale, a man was killed and a woman wounded Sunday morning. The 54-year-old man was found dead in a car near where a 42-year-old woman was shot about 4:15 a.m. in the 2700 block of West Flournoy Street, police said. His name hasn’t been released yet. The woman was shot once in her left knee and went to Mount Sinai Hospital, where her condition was stabilized, police said.
In Chatham, a woman was killed while sitting in a car Saturday. The 34-year-old was sitting in the driver’s seat of a car with a group of people in a parking lot in the 8700 block of South Lafayette Avenue when she was shot in the head about 1:25 a.m, Chicago police said. She died at the University of Chicago Medical Center.
In Englewood, a person was shot dead on Friday. The person was near the sidewalk about 5:30 p.m. in the 7200 block of South Yale Avenue when someone opened fire, striking him in the armpit and hand, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago, where he was pronounced dead, police said.
In Austin, two boys ages 12 and 13 were shot while standing on the porch about 10:30 p.m. Friday in the 5800 block of West Augusta Boulevard. They were both hit in the leg by gunfire from a silver SUV. They were taken to Stroger Hospital in good condition.
Hours later, a 16-year-old boy was wounded in Gresham on the South Side. The teen was walking through a gas station about 12:55 a.m. Saturday in the 7600 block of South Green Street when he was shot in the leg, police said. He was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center in good condition.
Another 16-year-old boy was shot Sunday in West Elsdon on the Southwest Side. He was riding his bicycle about 1:45 p.m. in the 3600 block of West 56th Street when he noticed a white Jeep Wrangler quickly drive by, police said. The teen dropped his bike and ran as someone opened fire, striking him in the leg, police said. He was taken to Holy Cross Hospital in good condition, police said.
Hours later, a third 16-year-old boy was hurt in a shooting Sunday afternoon in Humboldt Park on the Northwest Side. The teen was attacked about 4:50 p.m. in the 1100 block of North Lawndale Avenue, police said. He was hit in the ankle and was taken to Stroger in good condition, police said.
A fourth 16-year-old was shot early Monday in South Austin on the West Side. The teen was walking his dog about 12:25 a.m. in the first block of South Leamington Avenue when someone got out of a car and opened fire, striking him in the leg, police said. He was taken to Stroger, where he was listed in good condition, police said.

At least 42 other people were wounded in gun violence in Chicago from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday.

Last weekend, six people were killed and at least 61 others were wounded in citywide shootings over the holiday weekend.

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Cook County government Monday will unveil a new racial equity action plan that, among other measures, will implement a Latinx agenda to better represent the county’s largest racial or ethnic group in county hiring and promotion.

Other significant prongs include ensuring all county services are made accessible in diverse languages for the now 20% of Cook County residents who are non-native English speakers.

And all employees under the board president’s purview will be required to undergo mandatory racial equity and cultural competency training by next year.

Drawing on racial equity work begun in November 2018 with Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s five-year road map to “combat historic inequality, institutional racism and indifference,” the plan launches the county’s third annual Racial Equity Week.

“From the very beginning, in terms of priorities set, I’ve been focused on racial justice,” said Preckwinkle, sitting down with the Chicago Sun-Times to talk racial reckoning in a post-George Floyd America. She was joined by Denise Barreto, Cook County’s director of equity and inclusion, who came on board May 2020 as part of that road map.

“It’s one of the reasons I made criminal justice reform critical from the onset and tried to get all the actors in the criminal justice arena to work together. We know that system disproportionately impacts Black and Brown people in profoundly negative ways,” she said.

“The road map and equity efforts grow out of not only my personal conviction, but on work my staff along with our external partners have done, to laser our focus on racial equity.”

Cook County’s 2021 budget of $6.94 billion includes $100 million set aside in a Cook County Equity Fund targeting historical disparities and disinvestment in Black and Latinx communities — primarily through the Bureau of Economic Development and the Justice Advisory Council.

The county’s week-long series of equity focused events include conversations between Preckwinkle and folks ranging from Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi to LaSaia Wade, founder of Brave Space Alliance.

Other highlights include an event with Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell Jr. and immigration advocates celebrating legislation Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed last month, allowing public defenders to represent immigrants, refugees and other non-citizens in immigration court in Cook County.

For Wednesday’s conversation, Barreto joins peers from Chicago and the state of Illinois to discuss their roles as the architects of government equity efforts.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle (right) and Director of Equity and Inclusion Denise Barreto prepare for the county’s third annual Racial Equity Week. “I see a lot of people speaking to the issue, and I’m not sure they’re doing anything,” Preckwinkle said.Provided/Nick Shields

Pritzker’s July appointment of Chief Equity Officer Sekile Nzinga meant that for the first time, all three units of government have personnel dedicated to advancing racial equity.

The city’s chief equity officer, Candace Moore, was appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot in July 2019.

“Our racial equity action plan is really pulling together some strategies that have already been happening, and some that are brand new, under a cohesive policy,” said Barreto.

Barreto previously spent 10 years as an equity consultant to government, philanthropic and corporate entities. Before that, she served six years as an elected trustee for suburban Lake in the Hills — the town’s first elected Black official.

Cook County, Barreto said, has implemented a “racial equity assessment tool” to ensure conformity with the county’s racial equity policy, which covers contract compliance. That means looking at how much of that county work goes to businesses owned by minorities or women. In the 2019 fiscal year, figures show, the county spent some $74 million with minority- or women-owned contractors: $25 million with Black-owned businesses, $18 million with Latinx-owned, $15 million with Asian-owned, and $14 million with women-owned.

Between 2016 and 2019, county spending with businesses owned by Black women jumped by 75%; with businesses owned by Asian women, it was up 150%.

In that same period, spending with Latinx-owned firms and professional services was up 95%.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle (right) and Denise Barreto, the county’s director of equity and inclusion, discuss the county’s third annual Racial Equity Week.Provided/Nick Shields

“Money we would be spending, we’re spending on folks who need it most, connecting them to our systems. The idea is, that gives them a chance to be seen by other entities. Because that’s half the battle with minority businesses — people giving you a chance. You can’t do racial equity without betting on somebody you don’t know,” Barreto said.

The county’s Latinx Agenda perhaps speaks to the 2020 U.S. Census, where Latinos became the largest racial or ethnic group in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois.

In Chicago, the racial make-up now is 7% Asian, 29% Black, 30% white and 31% Latino.

Racial Equity Week events also will help kick off Hispanic Heritage Month — celebrated Sept. 15 to Oct. 15 — with another conversation, this one between young Latinx leaders in government and the civic sector on strategies for growing Latinx leadership in those spaces.

“We want to ensure we retain and build career pathways for the Latinx folks in our midst. Then we want to up the ante, ensure we have a robust recruiting strategy,” Barreto said.

“This reflects county policies that have always been Latinx- and immigrant-friendly.”

This historic moment, with Illinois’ three largest units of government unified in targeting racial inequity, is linked to the May 25, 2020, murder of Floyd, a Black man, under the knee of a white police officer.

The tragedy reverberated across the globe, triggering America’s reckoning with systemic racism across all sectors.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle (r) and County Director of Equity and Inclusion Denise Barreto discuss the county’s new Racial Equity Action Plan, which includes racial equity training for all employees. The plan grew out of work “to if not re-direct our focus, then sort of laser it on racial equity,” Preckwinkle said.Provided/Nick Shields

Preckwinkle is quick to note her five-year road map, which for the first time acknowledged county government’s role in creating inequities, meant that Cook County — second-most-populous in the United States behind only Los Angeles County — had begun its racial reckoning a year and a half earlier.

Still, neither she nor Barreto believe the needle has moved much since Floyd’s murder.

“We have a lot of equity theater going on in our country,” said the 49-year-old Barreto.

“Last year, I think something like $50 billion supposedly was dedicated across lots of different industries to rectifying racial equity. And outcomes are the same or worse. However, you can’t un-know things. So yes, we as a country are taking a step, and I’m proud to be where I’m at in this moment. I’m on the ground, and we’re doing this work.”

Preckwinkle points to voter suppression laws across the nation as the clearest evidence of opposition to that reckoning.

“African Americans were brought to this country in 1619. That’s 400 years — 250 years of slavery, 150 years of serfdom and fourth-class citizenship. That’s a big tanker to turn around,” said Preckwinkle, 74, a former history teacher.

“Black and Brown people were instrumental in the election of President Joseph Biden. The reaction to that by political opponents has been to do everything they can to keep Black and Brown people from voting — particularly in what was the old Confederacy, which has never been happy about Black folks being equal,” she said.

“I’m always cautious about saying a moment is transformative. I see a lot of people speaking to the issue. I’m not sure they’re doing anything. This is hard work that takes a long-term commitment. Achieving racial equity in our country will be the work of our lifetimes.”

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DEAR ABBY: A friend of 40 years is always saying what she can’t afford, yet she owns property, has a 401(k), always finds additional work in her field and buys the cheapest groceries. She won’t spend a dime, even when it’s necessary.

In a recent text she was going on again about money. When I (jokingly) quipped, “You’re probably a millionaire by now!” she jumped on me as if I’d called her the B-word and went off on a rant. I was dumbfounded. I apologized because she felt I’d badly offended her by calling her a “millionaire.” When she didn’t respond, I left it alone. This was a few days ago. This morning I got a text from her as if nothing happened.

I’m no longer feeling like I’m her “friend.” Looking back, she was never a good hostess when I flew out of state to visit her. Nor has she ever treated me for lunch or dinner, although I was happy to treat her to lunch when she came to visit. I don’t feel the caring, generous, giving aspect that usually goes with long-term friendship. When she was down financially, I offered. I haven’t experienced the same from her. I feel shot down and ready to call it quits. — FALLING OUT OF FRIENDSHIP

DEAR FALLING OUT: Before ending a 40-year friendship, please TELL this woman she hurt your feelings. Then ask why your casual comment triggered such a strong reaction. Her response to your reasonable question will tell you everything you need to know about whether your relationship is salvageable.

DEAR ABBY: I am a stay-at-home mom of a 4-year-old son who is the light of my life. I truly enjoy our days together. For various reasons, my husband and I have decided he will be our only child. He will soon be in school almost full time and I will be returning to work. When I think about it, I get depressed. These have been the best years of my life, and I think I made a mistake letting my son become my “reason” for happiness. I know we will make many more memories together, but I feel like it’s kind of the end of an era and I’m not sure what to do with myself. Can you advise? — MOMMY MOVING FORWARD

DEAR MOMMY: This may be “the end of an era,” but it is also the beginning of a NEW one. Your son is about to experience the first of many growth spurts, and you along with him. In addition to his academic lessons, he’s going to learn how to become independent and relate to other children. Both are vital to his development as a person.

Rather than dwell on your sadness, consider this a time of growth for yourself as well, and focus on the positive. If you can help out at your son’s school, volunteer if you have time outside of work. Depending upon your child’s extracurricular interests (like sports, perhaps?), you may find yourself involved with those and busier than ever. Because he’s starting school doesn’t mean your role as a mother is done. Quite the contrary.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

Abby shares more than 100 of her favorite recipes in two booklets: “Abby’s Favorite Recipes” and “More Favorite Recipes by Dear Abby.” Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $16 (U.S. funds), to: Dear Abby, Cookbooklet Set, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

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Federal prosecutors have said there’s a tattoo on the left bicep of Labar “Bro Man” Spann that depicts the Grim Reaper wielding a smoking firearm.

He once boasted he was “born and raised” on the 3900 block of West Lexington Street, which became the heart of his notorious street gang’s drug operation, according to the feds. And Spann allegedly added, “If you ain’t off the 3900 block, f— you.”

Spann has also been known to answer his phone, “Chief of the Four Corner Hustlers,” the feds say, declaring himself to be the head of a gang tied to at least nine murders since 2000, including the 2003 slaying of Latin Kings boss Rudy “Kato” Rangel.

Now, four years after a sweeping racketeering indictment connected Spann to six of those murders — including Rangel’s — Spann faces trial starting with jury selection this week in what is perhaps the most significant street-gang trial at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse since 2016.

Spann’s defense attorneys did not respond to messages seeking comment about the case.

A photo allegedly depicting tattoos on the chest and bicep of Labar Spann.U.S. District Court records

Court officials have spent years planning for what had been expected to be a three-defendant trial. But Tremayne “Trigga” Thompson and Juhwun Foster wound up pleading guilty in July to their roles in the West Side gang. By doing so, they left Spann alone to face the jury.

Still, prosecutors have said they expect Spann’s trial to last until mid-November, and they say subpoenas have been served to witnesses all over the country. The trial will play out under COVID-19 protocols that will restrict members of the public and the media to an overflow courtroom, where video of the trial will be streamed.

The feds also asked U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin in August to empanel an anonymous jury, noting that the Four Corner Hustlers “continue to operate today” and “have the capacity to harm jurors demonstrated by their alleged harm of others including witnesses.”

Labar “Bro Man” SpannChicago Police

Spann uses a wheelchair and was paralyzed in a 1999 shooting, records show. His trial will play out as Chicago again grapples with a particularly violent year — reminiscent of the 2016 racketeering trial of the Hobos street gang.

A court filing last month alleged that Spann, who has been held in the Livingston County Jail, was caught on recorded calls trying to interfere with his co-defendants’ guilty pleas and discussing who had been subpoenaed by the feds, saying, “I’m going to use them as my witnesses” and “I don’t give a f—, I’m already a step ahead of them.”

Spann also allegedly laughed when one witness told him the witness was “going to f— the trial up.”

The purported gang leader already faces a likely federal prison sentence of five or six years after he pleaded guilty in 2017 to illegal gun possession, drug and obstruction of justice charges in a separate case.

Prosecutors have identified Spann as the leader of the Four Corner Hustlers, which they’ve described as a group of West Side robbers, drug dealers and killers whose crimes date back to the mid-1990s.

The gang’s prosecution features links to other high-profile cases. For example, the feds sought last month to bar any mention at Spann’s trial of former Chicago Police Sgt. Xavier Elizondo, who helped secure wiretaps against the gang. Elizondo was convicted of multiple federal corruption counts in 2019 and is now serving a sentence of more than seven years at a high-security U.S. penitentiary in Louisiana, records show.

Chicago Police Sgt. Xavier Elizondo walks out of the Dirksen Federal Courthouse.Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times file photo

Spann’s trial also features a connection to the prosecution of the Sinaloa drug cartel once led by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera, who is now serving a life sentence in federal prison. That’s because Rangel, the late Latin Kings boss listed as one of Spann’s victims, had once been married to Valerie Gaytan, the daughter of a Chicago cop.

After Rangel’s death, Gaytan took up with Margarito Flores, one of the twin Chicago drug dealers who famously cooperated with the feds against “El Chapo.” Gaytan now faces federal charges of her own with Vivianna Lopez, the wife of Margarito’s brother Pedro. They are accused in a money-laundering conspiracy that allegedly began with the Flores’ surrender in December 2008.

Margarito Flores

Rangel was gunned down at a West Side barbershop in front of multiple witnesses on June 4, 2003, in what records have suggested was a murder-for-hire after Rangel stole 150 kilos of cocaine. His death inspired the rapper DMX to record a tribute titled, “A ‘Yo Kato.”

Spann’s attorneys have argued that the alleged contract on Rangel had nothing to do with the Four Corner Hustlers. But the feds say Spann also agreed to Rangel’s murder as a way of asserting his authority on Chicago’s West Side.

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