4 days ago
Two more alleged members of the ‘Snakes' indicted for RICO violations
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Two Peoria teens were indicted Tuesday on charges they were part of a violent group that wreaked havoc on Peoria's streets.
Amarii A. Smith-Holley, 17, and Kendal E. Patterson, 18, both were indicted for violating the state's anti-racketeering laws as well as aggravated discharge of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon, the latter charge alleged they possessed a loaded machine gun.
Smtih-Holley faces five additional counts which include filing a false police report, aggravated battery with a firearm for a Feb. 20, 2023, shooting. He also faces a charge of aggravated discharge of a machine gun as well as two other weapons counts.
Both face decades behind bars if convicted.
And both are alleged to be members of the Snakes street gang.
The Feb. 20, 2023, shooting occurred near the intersection of Hayes and Stanley streets in South Peoria. The aggravated discharge of a machine gun alleges Smith-Holley fired at a person on July 7, 2024, in the 2300 block of North Linn Street.
Patterson is accused in connection with incidents on Feb. 24, 2023, in the 800 block of Gift Avenue, also in Peoria.
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. Both Smith-Holley and Patterson were transferred out of juvenile court last month.
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.
Prosecutors allege the group is responsible or linked to at least three murders and 12 shootings.
Of the other eight people, all their cases are still pending.
Both men are scheduled to appear later this month to be arraigned on the charges.
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