Chicago Gang Member Sentenced to Six Years for Witness Retaliation
In a recent development, a Chicago gang member, Javion Bush, aged 23, received a six-year prison sentence for his involvement in retaliating against two witnesses cooperating with a gang-related investigation. His actions included sending threatening messages via social media, where he boldly declared, “All rats must die.”
Earlier this year, Bush pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice, stemming from a 2021 Facebook post in which he disclosed the names of two individuals who had testified before a federal grand jury investigating his street gang, as confirmed by the U.S. Justice Department.
In his online post, Bush not only proclaimed “All rats must die” but also tagged the two cooperating witnesses and sent one of them a direct threat using the same statement through Facebook Messenger.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Albert Berry III emphasized the critical role of witnesses in uncovering the truth about incidents. He stressed that protecting witnesses should be a top priority, with swift and severe consequences for those who threaten them.
Bush acquired the identities of the witnesses by reviewing a law enforcement report provided to a fellow gang member facing prosecution for murder.
Federal authorities had been diligently investigating the gang for several years and recently secured convictions against several associates and three gang leaders for racketeering conspiracy. The jury found the gang responsible for six murders on Chicago’s South Side.