Purported Chicago gang leader to jurors: Gang never existed
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CHICAGO — The purported leader of Chicago’s powerful Hobos street gang surprised courtroom observers by choosing to testify Wednesday at his own racketeering conspiracy trial, telling jurors that no such gang existed despite his full-arm tattoo emblazoned with the words — “Hobo: The Earth Is Our Turf.”
Gregory “Bowlegs” Chester, 39, described his life to jurors as one marked by poverty growing up in the Robert Taylor housing project on Chicago’s South Side, where he said “only the strong survived.” He also spoke of the ridicule he faced because of his severely deformed legs caused by rickets, a rare bone disease.
In what is regarded as one of the biggest gang cases in the city’s recent history, Chester and five other alleged Hobos gang members on trial at U.S. District Court in Chicago are charged with conspiring to extend their criminal empire. That conspiracy, say prosecutors, involved torture, armed robberies and nine killings, including of two police informants.
Asked about prosecutors’ portrayal of the Hobos as an organized enterprise that struck fear across the South Side, Chester said, “There’s no such thing.” He insisted that the word ‘hobo” tattooed on his arm merely referred to a beloved dead friend’s nickname, not to any gang.
