When Larnell Rogers fled Chicago’s federal courthouse Thursday, causing a 2 1/2-hour lockdown, it was just another twist in a bizarre story involving police informants, a reputed gang member named “Money,” and a man who survived being shot 14 times.
Rogers allegedly bolted from the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse after learning a judge had issued a warrant for his arrest. He was picked up hours later, but only after causing a major disruption and a manhunt.
It all started nearly two years ago with the planning of an elaborate hoax for which Rogers was to make $100, according to court documents.
Rogers faces trial on charges of falsely implicating two men in a near-fatal shooting of a federal informant.
The informant, identified in court papers as Isadore Gee, was left for dead in a South Side alley after being shot 14 times in the legs and lower torso in August 2004.
At first, police couldn’t solve the case.
But weeks later, federal authorities got a break. Another informant, Jessie L. Williams, had secretly tape-recorded a reputed gang member–nicknamed “Money”–admitting he drove the gunman from the scene.
As an informant, Williams was getting cash from the government. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives paid Williams about $2,900 for his assistance between August and November 2004, the charges allege.
The tape he provided appeared to be good information, and it led police to begin building a case against two men.
Thomas Ahern, a spokesman for the bureau, said authorities had come close to charging two men.
But things began to fall apart.
An investigator discovered that the purported gunman had been incarcerated in Cook County Jail on the day Gee was shot.
Eventually, Williams admitted he made the whole thing up and the tape-recording was a fake, according to court records. He told authorities he falsely implicated the two men in order to get paid as an informant so he could buy narcotics.
Rogers had been acting on the tape, playing the role of “Money” who drove the getaway car, according to records.
Rogers told authorities he was promised $100 for his assistance, court records show, but he said he was paid just $60 to $75.
Rogers said Williams told him to say he drove a guy in a car to the site of the shooting in the 700 block of South Campbell Avenue and that “when the guy got out, he just started shooting,” records show.
Rogers’ girlfriend, Jennifer Blanton, 29, told authorities she watched as Williams and Rogers, who then lived together in the 900 block of South Claremont Avenue, rehearsed their lines before producing the recording in November 2004.
Robin Whitmore, who was Williams’ girlfriend at the time, was also charged after she allegedly falsely corroborated Williams’ account of the tape-recorded admission.
Rogers, Williams and Whitmore have pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Authorities don’t know why the three chose the two men who were wrongly implicated on the tape. Both have lengthy arrest records. One of the men said he didn’t recognize a photograph of Williams, court records show.
Authorities believe that Gee, working undercover in narcotics investigations, was shot after suspicions grew about his informant role. No one has been charged with shooting him.
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The murky world of informants, a linchpin of law enforcement, is inherently risky business and sometimes backfires.
Ahern said Rogers had missed previous court appearances and failed to show up for required drug testing. When he was late to court Thursday, his lawyer had no explanation for his absence, and at the request of prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan issued a warrant for his arrest.
Moments after the hearing ended, Rogers showed up. He became upset when he learned about the warrant and took off into a stairwell of the high-rise courthouse.
U.S. Marshal Kim Widup said a deputy marshal in the stairwell happened to overhear Rogers saying to someone else that he was being sought and that he had to get out of the building. A brief chase ensued and the deputy lost track of Rogers after he ran out onto a floor of the building.
The courthouse was shut down at 11:30 a.m. and remained closed until 2 p.m. as marshals went from room to room looking for Rogers.
At 11:30 a.m., an announcement was made over the building’s communication system asking Rogers to walk into any hallway in the building, kneel and wait to be arrested. All personnel should go to their offices and lock the doors, the announcement said.
Elevators in the building were shut off.
Widup defended his choice to close the courthouse.
“We did not know his state of mind,” he said of Rogers. “In an aundance of caution, we’re going to clearly look for him.”
Rogers was located by Chicago police, who were working with the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force, outside his aunt’s home near Polk Street and Western Avenue.
Rogers was taken into custody along with Blanton, who was wanted on a parole violation.
Widup said it was unclear whether Rogers would face additional charges. He would almost certainly not be charged with escape, he said, because Rogers was never in custody before he left the courthouse.
“It’s a failure-to-appear issue,” Widup said.
Marshals were in the process of reviewing tapes from cameras in the building in an attempt to determine how Rogers left. Widup said meetings were ongoing to determine whether any procedures need to be changed.
“We’re talking about what we might have done differently,” he said, “and how we could have handled it better.”
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