The Nation : 5 in Gang Sentenced for Libyan Scheme

Five members of Chicago’s El Rukn street gang were sentenced in Chicago to prison for conspiring in a terrorism-for-hire scheme to get $2.5 million from Libya. The government said the group never did commit any terrorist acts. Gang chief Jeff Fort, 40, sat impassively as U.S. District Judge Charles R. Norgle sentenced him to 80 years in prison and fined him $255,000, saying, “You were clearly the leader of the organization.” Fort and the four others were convicted Nov. 24 of conspiracy and weapons charges. Co-defendants Leon McAnderson, Reico Cranshaw and Alan Knox were convicted on the conspiracy and weapons charges. Roosevelt Hawkins was convicted of conspiracy, interstate travel and a weapons charge. Cranshaw received 63 years in prison and a $241,000 fine. Knox was sentenced to 54 years and fined $229,000, McAnderson received a 51-year sentence and a $241,000 fine and Hawkins was sentenced to nine years in prison and five years of probation. The gang takes its name from the cornerstone of the Kaaba, an Islamic shrine in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.