An aspiring local rapper became the latest defendant in a Lake County gang racketeering investigation to plead guilty under a negotiated deal this week with prosecutors.
Harlin Barnes, 35, of Waukegan, pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering Friday and was sentenced to six years in prison under a plea deal approved by Judge Mark Levitt.
As part of the deal, several lesser felony counts of delivery of cocaine were dismissed.
Assistant State’s Attorney Reginald Mathews said that the case against Barnes involved several instances in which Barnes sold cocaine to an FBI informant in March and April of 2014, as well as intercepted phone calls in which Barnes spoke of drug dealing and distributing guns to young gang members.
Mathews said Waukegan Police Department gang experts have said Barnes is a member of the 4 Corner Hustlers street gang.
That gang was the target of the local Illinois Street Gang and Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act investigation that led to multiple arrests in late fall of 2014.
Including Barnes, 21 of the initial 27 defendants have been convicted, most through negotiated guilty pleas.
Mathews told the court that Barnes was working toward a rap career and shows promise but that he had used money from drug sales to help set up a rap production company to be called Gang Life Enterprises.
Levitt told Barnes that because he has credit for more than two years toward his sentence due to time served in Lake County Jail and is eligible for day-for-day good-behavior time off in prison, he may be out relatively soon.
“As I think you are aware, you are not going to be gone that long,” Levitt said. “I hope you make plans so that when you get out you will not be coming back here except to visit.”
Douglas Zeit, the defense attorney representing Barnes, had no comment after the plea deal was approved.
The racketeering investigation, called Operation Shut Down the Hustle, included the participation of the FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Lake County state’s attorney’s office; the Lake County sheriff’s office; the Mundelein, Zion and Waukegan police departments; and the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group.
The monthslong investigation recovered large quantities of drugs, as well as weapons and cash, authorities said.
Mathews also noted that a successful challenge to the operation’s use of wiretap information may be a factor for defendants whose cases are still pending, but the issue is “moot” for those like Barnes, who have voluntarily pleaded guilty.
Twitter @jimnewton5
More Top Picks Signs Of Dehydration In Seniors