Latin King Gang Member Convicted at Trial of Conspiracy to Participate in Racketeering Activity, Including Two Murders

HAMMOND-Jeremiah Farmer, 38, of Hammond, Indiana, and a member of the Chicago-based Latin Kings street gang, was convicted by a federal jury of conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute illegal drugs ( cocaine, marijuana, and alprazolam) , announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.   

Farmer was convicted after a ten-day jury trial before U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon.  The jury found that Farmer, as part of the racketeering conspiracy, on June 25, 1999, beat Marion Lowry, 74, and Harvey Siegers, 67, to death with a hammer at their Hammond business, Calumet Auto Rebuilders.  The jury also found that Farmer conspired to distribute or possess with intent to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine as part of the racketeering conspiracy.  The jury also found that Farmer conspired to distribute or possess with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana as part of the drug conspiracy.

U.S. Attorney Kirsch said, “I am very pleased with the guilty verdict announced today and with the work of Assistant United States Attorneys David Nozick and Nicholas Padilla in presenting this case to the jury over the past several weeks.  The victims’ families have waited a long time for this day.  My office will continue to aggressively prosecute cases involving violent street gangs and senseless acts of gang violence and bring these criminal gang members to justice.”            

Approximately 43 defendants have been charged with racketeering conspiracy as members of the Latin Kings street gang in a criminal conspiracy extending back to 1999.  The racketeering conspiracy charge alleges that gang members and associates were participants in a racketeering conspiracy that involved murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault, sex trafficking, and narcotics distribution.

This case is the result of the investigative efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the East Chicago Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Gary Police Department, the Hammond Police Department, the Lake County, Indiana, Sheriff’s Department and Lake County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area officers and agents.  The Lake County Prosecutor’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois, have also provided assistance.  The Latin King racketeering case was prosecuted by Northern District of Indiana Assistant U.S. Attorneys David J. Nozick and Nicholas J. Padilla