20-05-2025
RICO charges filed in Peoria for alleged gang involvement
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A 17-year-old boy, already facing a charge of first-degree murder, was indicted Tuesday for allegedly violating the state's anti-racketeering laws.
Skylar Jordan, 17, was indicted on the RICO violation as well as in a separate case for a special type of unlawful use of weapons that alleges he had a machine gun. Both charges could send him to prison for decades.
He will be arraigned on those charges on May 29.
Central Peoria man may get decades for murder, RICO charges
He was also charged last fall with one count of first-degree murder in connection with the Sept. 25, 2023, shooting death of James Irby. His age made the case an automatic transfer from the juvenile division of Peoria County Circuit Court to the adult division.
Last fall, State's Attorney Jodi Hoos filed the RICO counts against 10 people under the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act which alleges they were affiliated with the 'Snakes' street gang, which prosecutors said is linked to a 'rash of violence that has plagued the area.'
At the time, six of the 10 were minors, and Hoos said she planned to ask a judge to transfer the case from the juvenile division to the adult division. Unlike the murder count, it was not an automatic transfer.
The case in the juvenile court system had been on hold pending a judge's decision on the transfer request, which was granted only recently.
RICO charges are normally seen in federal court and are products of federal investigations of organized crime. RICO counts often allege that people worked together to advance a criminal enterprise.
The Snakes are a street gang in Peoria. It appears the group is not linked to any one area within the city limits, based on records from prior incidents and arrests. Among the incidents they have been linked to are a 2024 shooting at a post-prom party in Chillicothe that left one person with a gunshot wound to the head.
Of the other nine people, all their cases are still pending.
In regard to the homicide, Peoria police were called to the 1800 block of South Stanley Street shortly after 10:15 p.m. Sept. 25, 2023, on a report of a shooting. There they found a 20-year-old man — Irby — who had been shot. He was taken to an area hospital, where he later died.
The deadly shooting was the city's 21st homicide of 2023 and part of a rash string of violence that has been attributed to the Snakes.
Jordan will appear back in court late next month on that case.
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