Judge transfers alleged teen gang member's RICO case to adult court

Yahoo

26-04-2025

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A judge has granted Peoria County prosecutors' request to move the case of a Peoria teenager involved in a notorious street gang out of juvenile court.
The move means that Chavez L. Allen, who was 16 when he was charged, will now have his case tried in the felony division of Peoria County Circuit Court for violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act statute. He was also charged with Unlawful Use of a Weapon.
UPDATED: 'Snakes' street gang hit with RICO allegations by Peoria County state's attorney
Allen is now 18 but was a minor when he was involved with the gang known as the 'Snakes.' Prosecutors have also asked the judge to hold him pending the outcome of his case. A hearing on that will be held on Monday.
He appeared in court on Friday afternoon after the case was transferred for a brief hearing.
State's Attorney Jodi Hoos filed the RICO counts under the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act against the four adults and six minors. The charges allege the 10 were members of the 'Snakes' street gang, which her office says is linked to a 'rash of violence that has plagued the area.'
The six minors are either 16 or 17, Hoos' office said. They have been charged in juvenile court with RICO allegations and counts of aggravated battery and aggravated discharge.
Hoos said she plans to transfer them to adult court if possible. The dispositions of those hearings were not immediately known.
Through this investigation, detectives have linked these individuals to at least three murders and 12 shootings. Police also recovered 18 guns. Four of those guns were equipped with a 'switch' that converts the gun into a fully automatic weapon.
Before a case can be moved to adult court, a judge must consider several factors before making a decision.
Among those factors are his childhood, what services he might have already received from juvenile probation officers as a way to rehabilitate himself, and the actual nature of the crime itself.
Judges in juvenile court must weigh all those factors and decide if it's appropriate to move a case out of juvenile court, where the emphasis is on helping a child, to adult court, where there is more focus on punishment.
The stakes are high, as a move to adult court could mean a possible prison sentence of several decades, and some of that could have been served in an adult facility.
Staying in the juvenile system means the case is sealed to the general public, and any imprisonment would end on the boy's 21st birthday.
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