An East Chicago man pled guilty Tuesday to conspiracy to racketeer, including taking part in the murder of a rival gang member in 1999.
Rodney King, 32, pled guilty during a change of plea hearing to one count of conspiracy to racketeer. King is scheduled to be sentenced April 12.
The change of plea followed a plea agreement that was filed Tuesday. The deal includes a binding agreement that King will not be sentenced to more than 35 years in prison; if a judge rejects the deal, King can withdraw his guilty plea.
King, a member of the Two Six street gang in East Chicago, was originally charged murdering Alberto Guzman, who he and others believed was a member of the rival Imperial Gangsters, in 1999 as retaliation for the shooting of a fellow gang member.
More Top Picks Are You Worried To Tote A Lot Of Gear From One Place To Another Now We Have The 10 Best Folding Wagons
The new racketeering charge against King, which was also filed Tuesday, does not include a separate murder count. However, the charge includes the killing of Guzman and also says that King helped kidnap the children of Julio Cartagena and their mothers in 2002.
Federal attorneys have said that King and other Two Six members did so because one of their leaders believed Cartagena, who was also a Two Six member, had stolen cocaine from him.
King was charged in April after several other Two Six members had been charged in Cartagena’s death and other gang crimes.
When federal investigators asked King about his role in Guzman’s shooting, he told them he was 16 at the time and wasn’t an official member of the gang yet. He said that Two Six leader Jesus Fuentes was upset when another gang member had been shot at and told King that an IG “had to die” and to “make me proud,” according to court records.
King and two others then drove around East Chicago until they saw Guzman’s car. King and one of the other men shot into the vehicle, killing Guzman, court documents said.
Fuentes told him later at breakfast that day that he was officially a member of the gang, according to court records.
Contact Teresa Auch Schultz at [email protected].