Latest news with #MelvinDoyle
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Feds, state authorities charge 41 with gunrunning, weapon possession, other crimes as part of 2-month crackdown
When Chicago police responded to a shots-fired call at Riis Park in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood on a May afternoon, witnesses told them a young man standing next to a scooter had fired a gun onto the park's football field. The man, later identified as Eddie Arguelles, took off on the scooter, court records show, only to be arrested a few minutes later. Police records allege that the 20-year-old had a gun on him: a loaded, black .40-caliber Glock pistol with an extended magazine attachment and a switch conversion device. Arguelles, 20, faces federal charges of machine gun possession alongside state-level felony charges already brought against him. He is one of 41 defendants who have been arrested in a two-month crackdown on illegal guns and switches, federal authorities announced Tuesday. Switches turn ordinary handguns into fully automatic weapons that can fire dozens of rounds each time the trigger is pulled. Federal officials said in a news release they'd recovered 171 weapons and 64 switches during the effort, which Chicago police Superintendent Larry Snelling said was meant to combat the 'proliferation' of the devices in the city. According to the news release, authorities traced 'a significant number' of the recovered weapons to violent criminal activity that took place in and around Chicago over the last eight years. Among the 18 federal defendants arrested as part of the push is Melvin Doyle, the father of drill rapper Mello Buckzz. Doyle was charged with gun possession last month in a case unrelated to a drive-by rifle attack that apparently targeted people attending his daughter's album release party and led to one of the worst mass shootings Chicago has seen in recent memory. Two minors are also among the accused at the state level, according to the news release. Most of the federal charges allege machine gun possession or firearm possession by a felon, the news release stated. Defendants at the state level face charges of armed violence, gunrunning and machine gun possession among other allegations. Federal prosecutors, Chicago police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, the Cook County state's attorney's office, and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's office were all involved with the push, per the news release. Though Chicago is currently seeing a dip in violent crime after a spike during the COVID-19 pandemic, how to address persistent gun violence remains a major theme of city and state politics. Cook County State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke has spent much of her first few months in office seeking to take a tougher stance on gun crimes and last winter directed prosecutors to seek prison sentences for every felony case involving machine gun-type weapons. That order met a warm reception from Snelling and concerns about 'mass injustice' from Cook County Public Defender Sharone Mitchell. Former U.S. Attorney John Lausch called conversion switches a matter of utmost concern. 'Machine guns pose a dangerous threat to public safety and have no place on Chicago-area streets,' Lausch said in 2020, just as switches were beginning to flood the black market. Authorities have recovered more and more weapons with switches since 2019, according to ATF data provided to the Tribune by the state's attorney's office. In 2023, Chicago-area authorities recovered 564 such weapons and 604 in 2024 — up from 40 in 2019. Nationwide, according to the National Firearms Commerce and Trafficking Assessment, the number of switches recovered has increased by almost 800%.
Chicago Tribune
10-07-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Daywatch: Father of rapper whose party was targeted in mass shooting hit with weapons charges
Good morning, Chicago. The father of the Chicago drill rapper whose album release party was targeted in a mass shooting in River North over the Fourth of July has been hit with federal weapons charges alleging he sold 13 guns to undercover informants over the course of two months, including several just days after the attack. Melvin Doyle, 49, who has multiple felony convictions in his background, was arrested on Monday after he allegedly sold three pistols for $3,000, according to a criminal complaint brought this week in U.S. District Court. Doyle is the father of Melanie Doyle, the drill rapper known as Mello Buckzz, according to a law enforcement source. A rising artist who recently collaborated with rap superstar G Herbo, she was hosting an album release party at a River North club on July 2 when a gunman from a passing vehicle fired into the crowd outside, killing four and wounding 14 others. No arrests have been made. Read the full story from the Tribune's Jason Meisner and Sam Charles. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including how much of a rate increase Illinois homeowners who have State Farm insurance can expect, which alderman is leaving the City Council and what historic home hit the market yesterday for $15 million. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History The federal agents on the screen wore black as they entered the museum's doors. One briefly spoke to a staff member before walking down the hallway and out of the camera's view, leaving the employees at the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture in Humboldt Park feeling targeted and intimidated. 'Our community is under attack. The Latino community, brown people, are being targeted by this administration,' said Ald. Gil Villegas, 36th, at a hastily arranged news conference yesterday with other community leaders and other elected officials, including U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, who believed the federal government was there for immigration enforcement purposes. But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents weren't there for immigration reasons, said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in a statement. They were there to hold a briefing in the museum's parking lot ahead of an operation related to a narcotics investigation. As Texas grapples with the massive flooding that struck Hill Country and killed at least 119 people during the July Fourth weekend, many Illinois homeowners will soon see their home insurance rates skyrocket due to the increase in such extreme weather events. State Farm is raising homeowners insurance rates in Illinois by a whopping 27.2% beginning Aug. 15, according to a filing with the state last month. The rate hike, one of the largest in the state's history, will affect nearly 1.5 million policyholders. Vice Mayor Ald. Walter Burnett, Chicago's longest-serving current alderman, plans to step down from the City Council at the end of this month, he told the Tribune. Burnett, 27th, confirmed his exit, first reported by Block Club Chicago, yesterday as speculation mounts over Mayor Brandon Johnson tapping him to lead the Chicago Housing Authority. Johnson has not yet announced his choice for the next CEO of the CHA but on Tuesday praised Burnett, one of his most critical City Council allies. Gov. JB Pritzker's economic development agency fell short in implementing elements of the governor's landmark climate bill aimed at ensuring social equity in the effort to move the state toward a carbon-free future, Illinois' auditor general said in a report released this week. Mayor Brandon Johnson's administration has delayed signing an agreement to resolve negotiations over a federal complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development related to aldermanic power on Chicago zoning, leaving in limbo a yearslong fight over allegations of housing discrimination by the City Council. Commonly referred to as 'aldermanic prerogative,' the veto power was challenged in a 2018 complaint filed by the Shriver Center on behalf of community organizations that alleged the practice promotes housing discrimination by keeping racial minorities from moving into affluent white neighborhoods. Following an agency investigation, HUD found the allegations to be true in 2023 and offered the parties an opportunity to work with the federal agency on informal settlement negotiations. A historic six-bedroom Colonial Revival-style mansion on Lake Michigan in Kenilworth was listed yesterday for $15 million, making it the north suburban village's highest-priced listing in history. Chicago's modern-day rodents have evolved to look quite different from how they did just a century ago — mostly because of human development, according to a new study by Field Museum researchers. Novak Djokovic reached the Wimbledon semifinals for a men's-record 14th time as he pursues his unprecedented 25th Grand Slam title, quickly recovering from an awkward fall in the last game to beat Flavio Cobolli 6-7 (6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 and set up a showdown against No. 1 Jannik Sinner. In the depths of the offseason, the NBA Summer League breathes some life back into the professional men's basketball calendar with an 11-day sojourn to Las Vegas for a glimpse at the league's future. For the Chicago Bulls, the exhibition tournament is a crucial part of this year's calendar ahead of a transitional season that will refocus the roster on its youngest players. A new two-day celebration in August will celebrate the legacy of the Jackson 5 in Gary and remind the community that 'world-changing talent' can rise from its own neighborhoods.
Chicago Tribune
09-07-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Father of drill rapper whose party was targeted in mass shooting hit with federal weapons charges
The father of the Chicago drill rapper whose album release party was targeted in a mass shooting in River North over the Fourth of July has been hit with federal weapons charges alleging he sold 13 guns to undercover informants over the course of two months, including several just days after the attack. Melvin Doyle, 49, who has multiple felony convictions in his background, was arrested on Monday after he allegedly sold three pistols for $3,000, according to a criminal complaint brought this week in U.S. District Court. Agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found Doyle sitting in his Lincoln SUV in the 6500 block of South Yale Avenue, about a mile and a half from the site of the transaction, the charges alleged. Doyle was still wearing a holster on his waist that fit the one of the Glock pistols he'd sold, and he was carrying $1,100 in cash, all in $100 denominations, the complaint alleged. A cell phone Doyle had had also been used to communicate with the purchasers of the weapons, the complaint alleged. Doyle is the father of Melanie Doyle, the drill rapper known as Mello Buckzz, according to a law enforcement source. A rising artist who recently collaborated with rap superstar G Herbo, she was hosting an album release party at a River North club on July 2 when a gunman from a passing vehicle fired into the crowd outside, killing four and wounding 14 others. No arrests have been made. Though the investigation into Melvin Doyle's weapons sales was not related to the mass shooting, there has been concern among law enforcement about gang retaliation. His daughter on social media claims an affiliation with 'NLMB,' a gang faction based in the South Shore and Greater Grand Crossing neighborhoods where her father still resides. NLMB has feuded openly with opposing South Side gangs, sources have said, where each has used their music and social media to taunt each other before sometimes exchanging hits on opposition members. On social media channels, Melanie Doyle has said that her significant other and best friend were among those killed. Melvin Doyle, meanwhile, has an extensive criminal record dating back to his late teens. He was charged with attempted murder in 1995, pleaded guilty in 1998 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, records show. Details about the case were not immediately available. Cook County court records show that the same day that the attempted murder charge was filed, Doyle was also charged with murder in the March 1995 killing of a 23-month-old boy, who was hit by gunfire intended for a rival gang member. In that case, Doyle was found not guilty in a bench trial in July 1998, about a month before he pleaded guilty in the attempted murder, according to court records. Doyle also has two other convictions for narcotics possession, and in 2010 he was charged with armed home invasion and aggravated domestic battery stemming from an incident in Skokie. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in August 2011 to 12 years. The current case charges Melvin Doyle with a single count of illegal possession of a firearm by a felon. The complaint, however, details a series of transactions that began in May and continued until his arrest Monday, Doyle had an initial appearance at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Tuesday, where prosecutors asked that he be held pending trial. A detention hearing is scheduled for Friday.
