Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

HAMMOND-Darrick Vallodolid, 30, of Hobart, Indiana, and a member of the Chicago-based Latin Kings, was sentenced by Judge Simon to life in prison following his conviction at trial in May 2018 of conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity and conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine and marijuana, announced U.S. Attorney Kirsch.

The jury found that, to support a racketeering conspiracy, on Sunday, April 12, 2009, Vallodolid shot and killed Victor Lusinski, 16, of Lansing, Illinois, as Lusinski rode a bicycle near an elementary school in Hammond, Indiana. Vallodolid killed Lusinski because he thought Lusinski was a rival gang member.  The jury also found that Vallodolid conspired to distribute or possess with intent to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine and 100 kilograms of marijuana as part of the racketeering conspiracy.

“The sentence imposed today demonstrates that senseless gang violence that too often results in the loss of innocent life will never be tolerated,” said U.S. Attorney Kirsch.  “Those who engage in this type of conduct will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Approximately 43 defendants have been charged with racketeering conspiracy as members of the Latin Kings in a criminal conspiracy extending back to 2003.  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, has also provided assistance.  The Latin King case is being prosecuted by Northern District of Indiana Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Nozick, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph A. Cooley, formerly of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dean R. Lanter and Nicholas J. Padilla.

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