Lake Co. will name most-wanted gang leaders

Lake County law-enforcement leaders will release a list of the 10 most wanted gang members Monday morning.

The list targets gang members believed to be operating in areas such as Waukegan, North Chicago, Zion, Mundelein, Gurnee and Round Lake.

U.S Congressman Mark Kirk, a Republican from Highland Park, said it's the latest step to cut into the county's 3,000-member gang population.

"We have been building up steam over the past seven years to combat the gang culture in Lake County," Kirk said Friday. "We have been living and breathing this for seven years and we seem to be turning a serious corner in our fight against gangs."

The top 10 list will be presented to the media by law-enforcement officials from Waukegan, Mundelein, Gurnee, Highland Park Highwood, Lake County sheriff's office and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Kirk will host the news conference at his Northbrook headquarters.

The list is designed to get the hardcore, lifelong gang members off the street and into federal prisons, he said.

"By using the federal system, we can lock gang members up under federal indictments and put them away a lot longer than under state laws," he said.

Under state law, the common laws abused by gang members -- gun laws -- provide prison sentences of five to eight years. Those same crimes under federal law have mandatory 25-year sentences without parole.

Because of the high prison time, Kirk said, most gang members are willing to flip on gang leaders when facing federal prosecution.

"And, with the $146,000 federal grant we obtained two weeks ago for the Waukegan gang task force, it will make their organizations less bold, which should help us get more of these gang members off the streets," he added.