Hammond Man Gets 70 Months for Latin Kings Racketeering

Hammond, Indiana, streets bred another casualty of gang violence as 21-year-old Javier Castillo was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for his role in a violent racketeering conspiracy tied to the Latin Kings. The sentencing, delivered by District Court Judge Philip P. Simon, marks a hard blow in the ongoing crackdown against organized street gangs dominating Northwest Indiana.

Castillo, a documented member of the Latin Kings, admitted to key criminal acts that fueled the prosecution’s case: the June 2015 aggravated assault of a victim who suffered serious bodily injury in Hammond. The attack, carried out with brutal precision, was not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of intimidation and control enforced by the gang across the region.

In addition to violence, Castillo confessed to distributing between 500 grams and 2 kilograms of cocaine—a mountain of narcotics that flooded local neighborhoods and fueled addiction and crime. The drug distribution was deemed relevant conduct under federal sentencing guidelines, amplifying the severity of his punishment and exposing the dual engine of the gang’s operations: blood and powder.

The investigation that brought Castillo down was a sprawling, multi-agency effort involving the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, Chicago Police Department, East Chicago Police Department, Gary Police Department, Hammond Police Department, Lake County Sheriff’s Department, and Lake County HIDTA officers. The collaboration spanned jurisdictions, proving that only a united front can dismantle entrenched criminal networks.

Support also came from the Northern District of Illinois U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office, underscoring the deep entanglement of local and federal interests in combating gang-related crime. Prosecution was handled with precision by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David J. Nozick and Dean Lanter of the Northern District of Indiana, who painted a damning picture of Castillo’s allegiance to a criminal enterprise.

Castillo will serve 70 months behind bars, followed by 2 years of supervised release. His case stands as both a warning and a grim reminder: in the shadow of the Latin Kings, loyalty is measured in violence, profit, and prison time.

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