Le Journal

Federal authorities slapped all kinds of sinister labels on Chicago’s Juan Espinoza Martinez when they arrested him last fall, and they did it for all the world to hear.They called him a “high-ranking member of the Latin Kings.” They called him “depraved.” They even called him a “thug” as they accused him of offering $10,000 for the murder of U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino.But Thursday, a federal jury called Espinoza Martinez “not guilty.” In doing so, it put an end to one of the most contentious prosecutions to result from “Operation Midway Blitz.” Related Bovino murder-for-hire trial moving fast at federal courthouse, where it’ll soon be in jurors’ hands The group of regular citizens, led by a teacher who served as the foreperson, answered a call from defense attorney Dena Singer. She urged them in closing arguments to “stand up to the overreaching government.”“You have the power here,” she told them. “Your words now matter. You have the power to stop the overreaching government. … Don’t let them bully. Use your voice. And while the agents and the government did not want to listen to Juan’s voice, they will listen to yours.”After deliberating for about three hours, the jury acquitted Espinoza Martinez of one count of murder-for-hire, which carried a maximum of 10 years in prison. They did so after hearing how Bovino last fall became the face of immigration enforcement in Chicago.Espinoza Martinez, 37, sat stoically in his chair after the verdict was read, but he appeared to be holding back emotions as he briefly lifted his eyes to the ceiling. When the jury left the courtroom, he shared big hugs with Singer and her co-counsel, Jonathan Bedi.Still, his future remains uncertain. His lawyers have acknowledged an immigration detainer exists, telling a judge it’s likely to be acted upon. The question was not addressed Thursday after the verdict, and Bedi and Singer left the Dirksen Federal Courthouse without commenting. Dirksen Federal Courthouse, 219 S. Dearborn St. | Rich Hein/Sun-TimesSun-Times Media Several jurors also declined to speak to a Chicago Sun-Times reporter as they hustled out of the building.U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros’ office did not comment. But Stephen Miller, President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff and an architect of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s deportation campaign, reacted to the news on social media by insisting that “leftist judges and juries are empowering violent insurrection against the government in an effort to stop ICE from removing criminal alien invaders.”Espinoza Martinez is one of 31 known defendants charged in Chicago’s federal court with non-immigration crimes tied to the Trump administration’s aggressive deportation campaign last fall. With Thursday’s acquittal of Espinoza Martinez, 15 of them have now been cleared. At least three of those dismissals resulted from so-called "no bills," where a grand jury found insufficient evidence or probable cause to return an indictment. That was virtually unheard of until recently.Charges against the remaining 11 defendants were dropped for various other reasons. None of the cases have led to a conviction, so far.Espinoza Martinez is the first defendant prosecutors have taken to trial, though. The case against him evolved drastically after criminal charges were first filed in October, when Bedi and Singer insisted on a speedy trial. Prosecutors pressed forward even after U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow ruled crucial evidence couldn’t be seen by the jury. Related Chicago’s first Midway Blitz trial could center on feds’ Bovino murder-for-hire claim The original criminal complaint cited a “source of information,” now known to be 44-year-old Adrian Jimenez, who called Espinoza Martinez a “ranking member of the Latin Kings.” A Homeland Security press release also called Espinoza Martinez a “Latin Kings gang member.”But earlier this month, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Yonan and Assistant U.S. Attorney Minje Shin…

More police officers are making their presence known on CTA trains and platforms in a new program designed to deter crime, the CTA's boss said Thursday.Officers began patrolling platforms in groups of six to eight this week in the CTA's new Transit Rider Interaction Program, Acting Chicago Transit Authority President Nora Leerhsen said at a City Club of Chicago lunch.As part of the program, officers line a platform, check in with operators and riders, and take the train to other stations, where they will perform the same duties, Leerhsen said."This visible law enforcement presence will serve as a deterrent to crime, one of the key components of creating a safe environment on CTA," Leerhsen said.Leerhsen spent much of her 45-minute keynote touting her accomplishments during her nearly one year on the job. Leerhsen has been leading the agency in an interim capacity since former CTA President Dorval Carter Jr. resigned last January. Mayor Brandon Johnson has not named a permanent replacement.The past year has been busy for the CTA.The agency was saved from drastic service cuts and layoffs last fall when state legislators passed a $1.5 billion bailout for Chicago-area transit. The law shifts power from the CTA — like the ability to set fares — to the incoming Northern Illinois Transit Authority, which will replace the Regional Transportation Authority in June.And the CTA has been under increasing pressure to address transit safety, despite reported transit crime falling since after the COVID-19 pandemic. It follows a series of high profile crimes, including a horrific November attack on a Blue Line train, in which a man set a 26-year-old woman on fire.The Federal Transit Administration cited that attack when it demanded in December that the CTA improve its security plan or face federal funding.In response, Leerhsen said the agency was boosting its volunteer Chicago Police patrol by more than 40 officers a day. But the FTA blasted the plan as “materially deficient” and threatened to pull $50 million in funding. The FTA gave the CTA a March 19 deadline to submit a revised plan that addresses its concerns.Speaking with reporters after her speech, Leerhsen said the CTA plans to respond to the FTA by the March deadline but declined to elaborate on how the safety plan may be revised. She also declined to say whether the CTA has requested CPD increase the number of officers on its public transit unit, which is separate from the volunteer program that was increased in December. The unit had 133 officers as of December, according to the city’s Office of the Inspector General dashboard.The CTA has spent millions on private security guards and K9 units. But Chicago police officers play the primary enforcement role on the public transit system.It's security guards, not police officers, who expend the most manpower on the L, according to CTA's initial response letter to the FTA in January. Private security guards, who don't have arrest powers, worked an average of 65,000 hours monthly over the previous six months, according to the letter. By comparison, CPD officers in the public transportation section worked 21,000 hours, and officers in the volunteer unit worked 17,000 hours. Leerhsen said officers in the new Transit Rider Interaction Program come from both of the CPD volunteer and transit units.Illinois' new transit law, which goes into effect June 1, gives the incoming Northern Illinois Transit Authority board the power to make a systemwide police force, which could be set in motion next January.

A federal judge in Chicago dismissed a lawsuit Thursday that had restricted federal immigration agents’ use of force against protesters, clergy and journalists.U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis tossed the case with prejudice after the plaintiffs moved to dismiss the lawsuit last month in a seemingly strategic move.The case was brought last fall by protesters, clergy and members of the media. It culminated in November with Ellis’ historic order that restricted the feds’ use of tear gas, chokeholds and other uses of force during President Donald Trump administration’s deportation campaign in Chicago called Operation Midway Blitz. During Thursday’s brief hearing, Ellis decertified the class governed by that preliminary injunction since the order is no longer in effect.The plaintiffs’ move to dismiss the lawsuit was apparently done to avoid a three-judge panel from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that could have narrowed Ellis’ order.Two weeks ago, Ellis paused her decision to dismiss the case, citing the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Macklin Good by an immigration officer in Minneapolis.The Chicago Headline Club, Block Club Chicago and the Chicago Newspaper Guild — which represents journalists at the Chicago Sun-Times — are among the plaintiffs in the case.Ellis famously read Carl Sandburg’s poem “Chicago” before issuing her preliminary injunction Nov. 6.Through the lawsuit, lawyers for the plaintiffs obtained testimonies and depositions from U.S. Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino and other immigration officials. It also led to the release of a portion of records and body-worn camera videos of the feds’ operations in Chicago. Ellis also concluded in the case that Bovino lied when he said he personally deployed tear gas in Little Village after nearly being hit in the head with a rock.Most federal immigration officials, including Bovino, left Chicago in November, then returned for a couple of days last month before leaving again. During the deportation campaign last fall, federal agents fatally shot Silverio Villegas González and separately shot a 30-year-old woman who survived. A Department of Homeland Security source previously told the Chicago Sun-Times that as many as 1,000 agents could return in March, which is four times the roughly 250 agents that were in the area last fall.Following Thursday's hearing, Ellis heard the case in which the state of Illinois is accusing federal immigration officials of an illegal occupation that has caused “indiscriminate violence” and an “impermissible interference with state sovereignty.”Lawyers for the state requested to meet with the plaintiff’s lawyers in the Chicago Headline Club case to share discovery materials that had been provided by the government in the now-dismissed case.Andrew Warden, a Department of Justice attorney, asked that he speak with their clients before allowing discovery materials to be shared. He said starting that process would be “premature,” noting that the government still has more than a month to respond to the state’s initial complaint.The next hearing in the case brought by the state is scheduled for Feb. 19.Neither the reporter nor editors who worked on this story — including some represented by the Newspaper Guild — have been involved in the lawsuit described in this article.

Bally’s executives said Thursday they hope to have their $1.7 billion casino and entertainment complex in River West “substantially completed” by the end of this year and do not anticipate needing all of a proposed yearlong extension now pending in Springfield.The bill that State Rep. Kam Buckner (D-Chicago) introduced last week at Bally’s behest would extend the casino giant’s license to operate its temporary casino at Medinah Temple until September 2027.That would give Bally’s up to another year to complete and open the mega-project, which is now 13.8% complete.But the Bally’s team assured City Council members on Thursday the mega-casino that Chicago mayors have coveted for decades is “on track to speed through completion,” and they have no intention of needing or using the entire one-year extension.“We’re still targeting to try and get to substantial completion by the end of this year,” Chris Jewett, Bally's chief development officer, told a City Council committee during an annual hearing on casino compliance reporting.“There’s always unknowns. There’s challenges with permits," Jewett said. "We’re going to be highly dependent on one of our entryways, which is that Chicago Avenue bridge. You don’t want a one-way-in, one-way-out for a casino. So there’s a lot of variables. We’re moving as fast as we can. Our goal is to get open. We’d love to be open today.”Mike Anzelc, vice president of project development for Bally’s, described the Chicago Avenue bridge project as “absolutely critical.”Assistant Transportation Commissioner William Higgins assured Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett (27th), whose ward includes the permanent casino site, that the Chicago Department of Transportation is “on track with the Halsted and Chicago [Avenue] projects, and we anticipate being done with construction by December 2026.”The list of casino-related infrastructure projects includes: removing the temporary Chicago Avenue bridge over the Chicago River and replacing it with a tied-arch bridge; removing and replacing the Chicago-Halsted viaduct; adding dedicated CTA bus lanes; and removing and replacing street lights and traffic signals.With the financing, construction and contracting problems that Bally’s has already encountered, Buckner told the Sun-Times last week that it’s reasonable to question whether the need for another extension signals long-term viability concerns.Buckner said he shares those concerns, particularly about whether, even if the permanent casino does get fully built, the revenue produced would be enough to save police and fire pension funds hovering dangerously close to bankruptcy.On Thursday, the Bally’s team downplayed those concerns and glossed over the lackluster performance of the company’s temporary casino at Medinah Temple.The Medinah casino so far has generated just $35 million in gambling tax revenue for police and fire pension funds. More troubling is the fact that the city’s share “dropped slightly” from $16.1 million in 2024 — less than half the original projection in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s first budget — to $15.8 million last year.“We realize that the temporary [casino] has had challenges — from parking and access. … It’s really amenity-related,” Jewett said.“Once you can add in a true entertainment aspect — a 3,000-seat theater, a 500-room hotel, a rooftop bar, multiple sit-down restaurants, a food court, a riverwalk and then, really a campus feel — that casino doesn’t exist in the state today. … So we are highly confident that we can meet the projections for the permanent casino.”City Council members have their doubts.Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) said her South Side ward is filled with senior citizens who have no idea there’s a casino in downtown Chicago, let alone where it is. Chinatown Ald. Nicole Lee (11th) said the city "needs to get control over the number of buses coming in, essentially stealing away potential gaming customers."Taylor added, “People are still going to Indiana. They are not visiting the one in…