FORT MYERS, FL – A Chicago man, Latrel Jackson, 26, pleaded guilty today to a cold-blooded murder-for-hire plot that left one man dead in Fort Myers, Florida. Jackson, also known as “Kobe,” faces a minimum mandatory sentence of life in federal prison for his role in the 2019 execution. His co-defendant, Marvin Harris, Jr., aka “Mesh,” previously entered the same guilty plea last week, and both are slated for sentencing in December 2023.
The scheme, laid bare in court documents, reveals a ruthless act of retaliation. Harris, Jr. allegedly hired Jackson and an unindicted co-conspirator, identified as D.S. (deceased), to travel from the Chicago area to Fort Myers with a single, chilling objective: murder. The motive? Revenge against members of a Fort Myers gang known to law enforcement as “Bucktown,” whom Harris, Jr. believed had robbed a residence used for drug sales. The price for the hit was $10,000.
On October 28, 2019, Jackson and D.S. flew into Southwest Florida International Airport. Harris, Jr. met them and immediately armed them, providing the firearms they would use to carry out the hit. The pair initially holed up in a “trap house” – Harris, Jr.’s drug distribution center – before moving to a motel on Palm Beach Boulevard. For days, they scouted locations and hunted for members of the Bucktown gang, preparing to unleash violence on the streets of Fort Myers.
The break came on November 2, 2019, when Harris, Jr. provided Jackson and D.S. with a vehicle. They located their target, K.U., standing near a home. Circling the block once, they returned and opened fire at close range, a single gunshot to the head proving fatal. K.U. died instantly. Jackson and D.S. then fled back to Chicago by bus, still in possession of the murder weapons. The callous disregard for life is evident in the details of the crime.
Federal agents didn’t let the hitmen slip away unnoticed. On November 21, 2019, a search of Jackson’s Chicago-area home uncovered two firearms hidden in the attic of his bedroom. Ballistics testing confirmed that both weapons were used in the Fort Myers murder. Shell casings found at the scene, and the bullet recovered from K.U.’s head during autopsy, matched the firearms seized from Jackson’s home. The evidence was airtight.
The investigation, a collaborative effort between the FBI, Fort Myers Police Department, Joliet (Illinois) Police Department, Lee County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, underscores the reach of interstate criminal activity. Assistant United States Attorney Michael V. Leeman is prosecuting the case, which falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods, a federal program aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence. The streets of Fort Myers are a little safer with these two men facing life behind bars, but the story serves as a stark reminder of the brutality that lurks beneath the surface.
Related Federal Cases
- Romance Scammer Busted: Jackson Woman Cut Off from Global Fraud Ring · Illinois
- Khiri Jackson, Methamphetamine Trafficking, Florida 2024 · Illinois
- Border Patrol Agent Murder Suspect Extradited from Mexico · Illinois
- Shardae Jackson, Disaster Benefits Fraud, Florida 2023 · Illinois
- Two Foreign Nationals, ID Theft Scheme, Los Angeles CA, 2023 · California
Key Facts
- Agency: ATF
- Category: Weapons|Violent Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: Official Press Release
Get the grimiest stories delivered weekly. Subscribe free
Browse More
MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS
US NewsUS NewsUS NewsUS News