Reputed leader of Black Disciples street gang arrested in federal drug takedown in Chicago

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Reputed leader of Black Disciples street gang among 23 arrested in federal drug takedown

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The reputed leader of the Black Disciples street gang was among 23 people arrested in a federal gang takedown involving drug and weapons trafficking in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, federal authorities announced Wednesday.

Darnell McMiller, 34, who goes by the street name “Murder,” was charged with distribution of fentanyl-laced heroin to a cooperating individual last September in the 7000 block of South Lowe Avenue, according to court records.

McMiller, of Chicago, is described in the charges as the current leader of the Black Disciples, a national street gang founded in the city in the 1960s. Also charged was Clarence January, who allegedly leads the gang’s “Dog Pound” faction, and Charles Knight, an alleged high-ranking member of the Gangster Disciples accused of supplying narcotics to McMiller’s crew.

McMiller’s arrest came a little more than a year after his release from federal prison on a separate narcotics conspiracy conviction. Records show he was sentenced to eight years behind bars in 2014 and released in mid-2019. Within weeks, he was captured on undercover FBI wiretaps attempting to arrange new drug pipelines for the gang, according to the charges.

In one recorded conversation from September 2019, McMiller told an undercover FBI informant that he was thinking of making the birthday of former Black Disciples leader Jerome “Shorty” Freeman a holiday for the gang “everywhere,” according to the criminal complaint unsealed after McMiller’s arrest.

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“The influx of federal resources under Operation Legend announced last week week fits squarely within this same strategy and uses the same enforcement structure, including the agencies and the leaders that are up here today to help us rid our neighborhoods of gun-toters and drug traffickers in order (to) restore the rule of law and to help keep people safe,” said Lausch.

Emmberson Buie Jr., the head of the Chicago FBI, said “today is an important day for me” since he grew up in the Englewood area where much of the investigation was centered. But he also pointed to other federal gang investigations that need the FBI’s help.

“We’re not restricted to one area,” said Buie. “We are seeking out gun violence and criminals throughout the city to give everyone an opportunity to prosper and enjoy a beautiful city like Chicago.”

Meanwhile, Chicago police Superintendent David Brown, whose tenure has been marked by a jarring spike in gun violence, said the drug activity the Black Disciples allegedly engaged in directly affects the level of violence in a city like Chicago.

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Among the others swept up in the probe was John Ector, owner of the South Side nightclub V-75, who allegedly acted as the gang’s money man. Ector, 47, of Chicago, was charged with bank fraud, court records show.

Also arrested was Shongo Collier, part owner of the popular chicken restaurant Wings Around the World on West 61st Street. Collier, 48, of Riverdale, was charged with dealing fentanyl and other narcotics.

The two-year investigation also resulted in several alleged gang members charged with unlawfully trafficking handguns.

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