12/13/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/13/2024 15:57
CHICAGO - Four men have been indicted on federal robbery and firearm charges for allegedly participating in a heist of electronics equipment in Chicago.
KAHDAFFIE GREEN, JAHJUAN GREEN, CHAQWON BIRDEN, and MARQUISE RAMYYEH conspired to rob Meade Electrical Company on the South Side of Chicago on Dec. 6, 2023, according to an indictment returned in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Wearing hoods and ski masks, the four defendants brandished firearms and robbed employees of a RIDGID camera and a Digitrak locator box, the indictment states.
The indictment charges Kahdaffie Green, 25, Jahjuan Green, 27, Birden, 26, and Ramyyeh, 20, all of Chicago, with robbery conspiracy and brandishing firearms during a crime of violence. Kahdaffie Green and Ramyyeh are also charged with illegally possessing firearms as previously convicted felons.
Arraignments in federal court in Chicago are scheduled for Jan. 2, 2025, at 10:00 a.m., before U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer.
The indictment was announced by Morris Pasqual, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI, and Larry Snelling, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily C.R. Vermylen.
Valuable assistance was provided by ATF's Crime Gun Intelligence Center of Chicago. The CGIC is a centralized law enforcement hub that focuses exclusively on investigating and preventing gun violence in Chicago and throughout northern Illinois. The CGIC is an interagency collaboration that brings together - under one roof - federal, state, and local law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and intelligence analysts to move quickly to investigate and prosecute violent crimes.
Holding firearm offenders accountable through federal prosecution is the centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative that brings together law enforcement officials, prosecutors, community leaders, and other stakeholders to develop comprehensive solutions to the most pressing violent crime problems in a community. In the Northern District of Illinois, the U.S. Attorney's Office and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district, particularly firearm offenses.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence is punishable by a minimum sentence of seven years in federal prison and a maximum of life. The robbery conspiracy charge is punishable by up to 20 years, while illegal possession of a firearm by a felon carries a maximum of 15 years.