A Chicago man has become the eighth person charged in federal court in connection to a violent March home invasion in Winnetka that prosecutors allege involved armed suspects entering a home and holding a resident captive while demanding access to cryptocurrency accounts, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Andrew Franklin, 19, was arrested June 3 and charged, like the seven other defendants, with conspiracy to commit robbery and kidnapping, according to a second superseding indictment ordered unsealed in federal court following Franklin’s arrest.
Franklin, along with the others, is ordered to remain detained without bond pending trial, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The seven other co-defendants in the March 8 home invasion, including Chicago rapper Isaiah Dukes, who performs under the alias Lil Zay Osama, were previously arrested and have each been indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and kidnapping.
The kidnapping conspiracy charge holds a maximum sentence of life in federal prison, while a robbery conspiracy charge is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Federal prosecutors also said in the June 10 news release that the U.S. Attorney’s Office successfully appealed the order of a U.S. Magistrate judge in Chicago to release Isaiah Dukes, 29, on bond, prior to his trial.
The U.S. attorney’s office filed a motion in April to revoke that order, according to previous reports, and the case was then transferred to U.S. District Judge Iain Johnston in Rockford, who opted to overrule the release order.
Dukes, who now resides in Los Angeles, will remain detained in federal custody alongside defendants Khiell Dukes, 30, of Elgin; Anthony Ramsey, 22, of Chicago; Dashun Brown, 24, of Chicago; David Franklin, 24, of Chicago; Jalen Chambers, 24, of Bourbonnais and Tyrese Fenton-Watson, 23, of Chicago, according to a prior news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Isaiah Dukes’ attorney did not immediately respond to a Pioneer Press request for comment.
Court filings from separate litigation indicate Khiell Dukes and Anthony Ramsey are both related to rapper Dukes.
Prosecutors allege during the March 8 home invasion that Brown posed as a food delivery driver carrying a brown Outback Steakhouse bag to gain entry into the Winnetka home.
After a resident of the home opened the front door, Brown, Andrew Franklin, Fenton-Watson, David Franklin and Chambers forced entry into the residence while masked with loaded firearms, police said.
Defendants then allegedly held the adult victim captive for approximately an hour and used their firearms to “physically restrain the victim,” according to the news release.
During the home invasion, a child reportedly entered the residence and was also restrained, the charges allege.
Captors then allegedly demanded access to a safe, a computer and accounts holding cryptocurrency, according to the news release.
Court filings state that the resident was ultimately able to escape the home after “biting the finger” of the person holding them, according to previous reports. The resident then called the police.
The defendants fled the home after about an hour inside. Police responded to the scene, but only after the home invaders had fled, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Another resident of the home returned shortly before 5:30 p.m., court records said, and observed the co-conspirators driving away. The victims later reported three Rolex watches and their work laptop missing, according to previous reports.
Defendants then met up with the other co-conspirator defendants, Isaiah Dukes, Khiell Dukes and Ramsey, who were “waiting nearby and had been communicating with the captors” while inside the residence, the charges allege.
Brown, Ramsey and David Franklin were arrested on March 22, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Isaiah Dukes, Khiell Dukes and Chambers were arrested almost three weeks later on April 10. Fenton-Watson was arrested April 28 and Andrew Franklin on June 3, per the U.S. state’s attorney’s office.
All eight defendants have pleaded not guilty, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
According to Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County records, the next court date for the federal case is scheduled for Sept. 11.
