HAMMOND - A 41 year-old Schererville man and member of the Latin Kings has been sentenced to 87 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity.
According to a news release from the Department of Justice and the office of U.S. Attorney Thomas Kirsch, U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon issued the sentence on Monday in Hammond. As part of his guilty plea, Mark Toney also gets 2 years of supervised release.
According to documents in the case, Toney was a member of the Latin Kings street gang for most of his adult life, including being a local leader of Hammond Latin Kings for a period of time. He possessed firearms, ordered other members to shoot at rivals, and sold cocaine and marijuana as a member of the gang.
Factors affecting Toney’s sentence were his leadership role and his involvement in the distribution of between 3.5 and 5 kilograms of cocaine by the Latin Kings.
Kirsch says the case is the result of the investigative efforts of several law enforcement organizations including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the East Chicago, Gary and Hammond Police Departments, the Lake County 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, also provided assistance.
The Latin King case is being prosecuted by Northern District of Indiana Assistant U.S. Attorneys David J. Nozick and Nicholas J. Padilla.
