A high-ranking member of a south side Chicago black street gang received 20 years in federal prison for narcotics and firearm charges stemming from his arrest in late 2011.
Gilbert Spiller, who holds the rank of "general" in the Black P Stone Nation gang, operates in a Chicago neighborhood gang members refer to as Terror Town. In September, the 37-year-old Spiller pleaded guilty to two counts of selling crack cocaine and one count of illegally selling a firearm. Spiller's criminal record spans two decades.
U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras imposed the sentence Thursday in federal court.
Spiller admitted to selling 62.2 grams of crack cocaine on July 13, 2011 and 59.2 grams of crack on July 21 to a confidential informant near the 7800 block of South Kingston Avenue.
On Oct. 18, 2011, Spiller sold the same person a loaded .40-caliber handgun, knowing that the individual was a felon on parole and had recently purchased crack from Spiller on two occasions. Spiller believed that the individual had a score to settle with rival gang members.
Spiller told authorities he joined the Black P Stone Nation gang in grade school. He was subsequently convicted of aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm, stemming from a drive-by shooting that resulted in the death of one victim and wounds to four others. He was later convicted of aggravated battery of a Chicago Police officer.
Spiller admitted that he was involved in shooting at other people on five to 10 different occasions and believed that he hit the people he was aiming at in roughly half of these shootings, according to federal records.
