Weeks after a high-profile FBI raid on a quiet Lincoln Square street, federal racketeering charges have been unsealed accusing two gang members in the 2021 drive-by slaying of a teenage National Guard member on the Northwest Side.
Gary Roberson, who goes by the nickname “Gotti,” and Joseph Matos, whose street name is “Troubles,” were charged in an indictment unsealed Thursday with murder in furtherance of racketeering conspiracy, which could bring the death penalty if convicted, court records show.
Roberson, 40, of Chicago, was arrested May 16 and is being held without bond. That same day, the FBI raided a home in the 2200 block of West Farragut Avenue, where Matos was believed to be living with relatives, but he was not found there, according to court records.
Matos remained a fugitive as of Friday, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
The indictment alleged Roberson and Matos are members of the Milwaukee Kings, a street gang based on Chicago’s North Side that uses violence and intimidation to control turf and boost its reputation.
The bare-bones, 18-page indictment alleged only one specific act of violence: the July 3, 2021, slaying of Chrys Carvajal, who was fatally shot in the back and abdomen in the 2200 block of North Lockwood Avenue in the Hanson Park neighborhood on the Northwest Side.
According to Tribune reports at the time, Carvajal, 19, had recently completed Army basic training and was waiting to be assigned to a unit with the Illinois National Guard.
The 19-year-old grew up in the Austin neighborhood before his mother, who raised him and three other siblings, moved them to Portage Park out of fear of violence, relatives told the Tribune.
Police arrested a suspect shortly after the shooting but the Cook County state’s attorney’s office declined charges at the time, citing a lack of evidence.
Court records show the indictment against Roberson and Matos was filed under seal on May 14. Two days later, neighbors on West Farragut emerged from their houses as more than two dozen FBI officers wearing camouflage circle a house on foot. Agents used flash bangs prior to entry, shattering a front window of the two-story beige-colored home.
It’s unclear what evidence was gathered. The search warrant filed in the case remains under seal.
At a news conference after Carvajal’s slaying, his sister, Jennifer Ramirez said he was home on leave from basic training for less than a month before he was killed leaving a house party.
“He was fighting for our country,” Ramirez said. “He comes to Chicago, and he gets killed in the streets of Chicago.”
She said her brother, who died a week before his 20th birthday, had aspired to be a police officer since he was a young boy, and he cared deeply for his family and others.
“We have to live a whole life without my brother,” she said. “… You always see the news and think it’s going to happen to somebody else and never you.”
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
