Hobos Gang Leader Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison

Gregory "Bowlegs" Chester "embraced the murder and mayhem" wreaked over a decade by the Hobos street gang; he "contributed to the carnage," U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp said. And he cannot wash his hands of the blood spilled amid the gang's reign of terror in Chicago, reports the Chicago Sun Times .

Still, the judge stopped short Thursday of branding Chester the undisputed leader of a so-called "super gang" the feds have made him out to be. And while a jury tied him to two murders, Tharp said the evidence showing Chester actively ordered the killings fell short.

That's why, in the end, Tharp sentenced Chester to 40 years in prison at the end of a two-hour hearing, acknowledging the convicted gang member is a man of many talents who chose "to use those talents to advance the cause of evil."

Tharp called Chester "a leader" of the Hobos. But Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Otlewski called him "the leader" of the gang — and "unrepentant and a disease to society."