Guilty plea scuttles first Four Corner Hustlers trial, turning eyes to 2020

Stevon Sims | Chicago police

The last member of the Four Corner Hustlers set to stand trial in a racketeering case next week pleaded guilty Wednesday.

In doing so, Stevon “Tito” Sims scuttled what had once been expected to be a monthslong trial. His plea also means federal prosecutors will soon turn their attention to the separate trial, set for September 2020, of purported Four Corner Hustlers chief Labar “Bro Man” Spann and alleged gang members Tremayne Thompson and Juhwun Foster.

All three could face the death penalty if convicted.

Sims on Wednesday admitted to a racketeering conspiracy, joining Keith Chatman, Rontrell Turnipseed, Marchello Devine and Deandre Spann, all of whom pleaded guilty to the same charge in recent weeks. Sims is set to be sentenced Oct. 16. Chatman, Turnipseed, Devine and Deandre Spann face sentencing hearings in November.

In his plea agreement, Sims admitted to a series of drug crimes in 2009, 2011 and 2013. He told the judge Wednesday, “I sold drugs, sir.” And, at the judge’s prompting, he said he did so for the Four Corner Hustlers.

His attorney, Joseph Lopez, said Sims, 29, has already been in federal custody since June 2015. Meanwhile, his prison sentence is likely to fall between two and three years.

Therefore, U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin said he would be inclined to put Sims on home detention until sentencing, pending an interview by court personnel. Sims’ plea agreement listed no acts of violence, the judge noted.

Labar “Bro Man” Spann

An indictment linked the Four Corner Hustlers to six killings between 2000 and 2003, and prosecutors have since tied the gang to three more, all in 2012. Three other men charged in the indictment are cooperating with prosecutors.

Though he’s not tied to any of the murders, federal prosecutors have previously said Sims shot someone in the leg in July 2008 in the 4000 block of West Fifth Avenue — the heart of a swath of West Side territory claimed by the gang. Though the victim identified Sims at the shooter, prosecutors say, they later signed a “refusal to prosecute” form.

The shooting is not mentioned in Sims’ plea agreement.

According to police records, Sims worked at the direction of Labar Spann, the reputed leader of the Outlaws faction of the Four Corner Hustlers. Prosecutors say Sims ran the faction’s drug sales operation in the 3900 block of West Lexington.

In 2011, when Labar Spann was in jail, leaders of a rival faction — the Syndicates — approached Sims to ask him to join them, but he refused, according to court records. A year later, Sims was wounded in a shooting near 13th and Millard. Police believe the shooting was part of the ongoing Outlaws/Syndicates conflict.

On May 27, 2014, prosecutors say, Sims put more than $38,000 in cash into the bank account of a family member. That same day, the money was converted to a cashier’s check that Sims used to buy a unit in the 120-year-old greystone at 3927 W. Lexington.

Prosecutors say Stevon Sims ran the Four Corner Hustlers’ drug operations in the 3900 block of West Lexington at the direction of reputed gang boss Labar “Bro Man” Spann.

Police raided that building three times between November 2014 and January 2015. They seized 92.5 grams of heroin, 21.5 grams of cocaine, 1.9 grams of cannabis, a “military style assault rifle” with 30 live rounds, a 12-gauge shotgun with six live shells, two loaded handguns — one that was reported stolen in July 2014 — and another 12 live rounds of ammunition, according to court records.

In June 2015, federal prosecutors hit Sims with charges of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, as well as possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He pleaded guilty in August 2016 and was sentenced to 69 months in prison the following February.

At his sentencing hearing, Sims’ grandmother said she helped raise him and described him as “a very smart, bright, athletic, obedient young man.” A father of two, Sims attended parochial schools and took violin lessons as a child, his grandmother said.

Earlier this year, Lopez filed a motion to dismiss the most recent charges against Sims. Lopez argued, in part, that the lack of details given by the prosecution were hindering his defense.

The shortage of details, Lopez said, also put Sims at risk of double jeopardy. Durkin denied the motion in July.