More than three years after his conviction on sweeping gang racketeering charges, reputed Four Corner Hustlers boss Labar Spann will get a new trial after a surprise disclosure showed a prosecutor had promised a star witness less time in prison than what was told to the jury.
Spann, 46, had been facing mandatory life in prison after being convicted in November 2021 of directing or participated in four murders as well as a number of robberies and extortions over the course of two decades.
In a brief court hearing Tuesday, prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Thomas Durkin they were dropping their opposition to a new trial for Spann, though they continue to oppose a separate motion to dismiss the case.
Durkin tentatively set a trial date of for Sept. 8.
The controversy undoes one of the most significant gang racketeering trials at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in recent years, and adds yet another chapter to Spann’s legal saga, which began with his arrest on gun charges 10 years ago.
Prosecutors alleged Spann took over the reins of the West Side gang after he was shot and paralyzed in 1999, using murder to elevate the gang’s reputation for ruthlessness as well as his own street cred. Among the murders the jury found Spann participated in was the infamous contract killing of Latin Kings boss Rudy “Kato” Rangel.
A total of 18 witnesses identified Spann as the leader of the Four Corner Hustlers, including some of Spann’s top henchmen who cooperated with prosecutors in hopes for leniency.
The star witness was Sammie Booker, a Four Corner Hustlers hitman who began cooperating in 2012 and testified about numerous crimes, including several of the murders at the center of the trial as well as, attempted murders, extortion, robbery, and drug dealing.
At trial, Booker told the jury his deal with the U.S. attorney’s office called for them to recommend a prison sentence of 25 to 35 years.
After the trial was over, however, it was revealed that then-Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Salib had assured Booker he’d recommend a sentence of just 25 years, without the potential higher range.
Spann’s attorneys allege in a court filing in November that the undisclosed promise was made after Booker told prosecutors shortly before his grand jury testimony that he was getting cold feet and wasn’t happy with his deal. He also didn’t want to testify about the murder of a person named Gus, the motion stated.
“As Booker was purportedly wavering, Salib was running out of time,” the defense motion stated. “The special grand jury that was convened to decide this case was set to expire…It was at this time, with the clock winding down, and Booker on the fence, that Salib told Booker that he would recommend 25 years at his sentencing and remove Gus’s murder from the upcoming testimony.”
Booker’s defense attorney at the time was present for the conversation, and Booker claimed he and Salib “shook hands over the deal,” the motion stated.
But the alleged promise of the 25-year term was never reveled in subsequent hearings, including Booker’s grand jury testimony or his guilty plea in 2019, where Durkin repeated the 25- to 35-year range contained in the plea agreement and asked Booker and Solib if that was the only agreement related to sentencing.
“Yes, your honor,” Booker replied, according to a transcript of the hearing.
“All right. Nothing else, Mr. Salib?” asked the judge.
“No, your honor,” Salib said.
Salib abruptly left the U.S. attorney’s office shortly before Spann’s trial in 2021 and is now in private practice. He did not respond to a call seeking comment Tuesday, and his attorney had no comment.
The deadline for prosecutors to respond to the allegations is Feb. 28, court records show.
When the alleged promise was revealed in post-trial filings last year, Durkin said he was “troubled” that regardless of what Booker was told, “there were attorneys that knew better and should’ve corrected the record at many different spots in this saga.”
“The undisclosed promise of a recommendation of 25 years by the government was out there since 2017, and you knew it,” Durkin said in April 2024.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
