Money can’t fix him! Chicago man, Thaddeus Jimenez, who used $25M settlement to fund gang headed back to the slammer
5-4-09 Thaddeus Jimenez,30, sits with his cousin Amanda Makowski before reading a statement to reporters. His 1993 murder convictiction was vacated and he became a free man Friday after serving 16 years in prison......Rich Hein/Sun-Times
‘What a dofus. Rather than seeing his award as his ticket out of thug life, he sunk right back into it like a drunken lotto winner. He probably missed his time in prison’
Chicago man Thaddeus Jimenez won a $25 million settlement from Chicago in 2012
He was only 13 and in elementary school when he was wrongly convicted of fatally shooting Eric Morro, a 19-year-old gang rival
The conviction, overturned in 2009, ultimately led to the $25 million compensatory award
Now cops say Jimenez, 37, used the settlement to fund gang headed back to prison
He was caught on tape, driving up to former gang member, Earl Casteel and shooting his victim in both thighs
In June 2016 Jimenez admitted shooting Casteel, ‘because he wouldn’t join his gang’ – the Simon City Royals
Faces years in prison
Thaddeus ‘TJ’ Jimenez was only 13, still in elementary school, when he was arrested for murder in 1993. His friend Larry Tueffel, fingered him to the police as the shooter. Jimenez was later convicted of fatally shooting Eric Morro, a 19-year-old gang rival, on the North Side with whom he had just had a fight. The conviction, overturned in 2009, ultimately led to the $25 million award.
13-year-old Thaddeus “TJ” Jimenez in police lineup photo
Thaddeus Jimenez won a $25 million settlement from Chicago in 2012. He became a millionaire after he wrongly conviction was vacated, but now he’s going back to jail. Prosecutors say Thaddeus Jimenez, at the age of 37, not only squandered his jackpot but he is back to his old gang banging ways.
At his height Jimenez had homes in Chicago and the suburbs. He also has 14 vehicles registered in his name, including the $130,000 Lamborghini Gallardo.
Jimenez, who pled guilty to the case, is also alleged to have squandered his $25 million wrongful conviction settlement to build up his old Chicago gang.
A cellphone video recorded by a gang associate will be played in federal court Thursday, according to the Chicago Tribune.
A smiling Thaddeus Jimenez (right) after he won a $25 million settlement from Chicago in 2012
A transcript of the August 2015 video entered into court records details Jimenez pulling up to former gang member, Earl Casteel
“Why shouldn’t I blast you right now?” Jimenez is recorded asking.
After a brief exchange, the transcript indicates Jimenez shot Casteel in each thigh before speeding away.
The video was first described last June when the pair pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Jimenez at the June 2016 hearing admitted he shot Casteel, identified in court papers as “Victim A” — and added it was because he wouldn’t join his gang, the Simon City Royals, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Prosecutors at the time were seeking north of seven years in prison for Jimenez and more than five years for Roman.
The alleged crime kingpin was arrested at age 13 in 1993 and charged with murdering a 19-year-old with whom witnesses said he had a fight.
He was convicted in 1994 and lost the appeal three years later, after the case was initially overturned. His 16 years in jail took the better part of his teens and 20s.
‘TJ’ Jimenez went back to gang banging
Accomplice in the Simon City Royals gang, Jose Roman brandishes a gun in this YouTube video posted shortly before the Aug. 17, 2015, shooting of a man
Eventually released from jail in 2009, Jimenez successfully secured a $25 million settlement from the city of Chicago and the police department.
During his current trial, prosecutors allege he invested a significant part of his award on his old gang, the ‘Simon City Royals’, throwing lavish parties and bailing gangsta buddies out of jail.
Prosecutors wrote in a court filing earlier this month that Jimenez “received a sum that would be truly staggering to all but the wealthiest in this country. He could have used this money in any number of ways, to assist friends and family, contribute to the community, sponsor others wrongfully convicted or simply live in comfort for the rest of his natural life. Instead he chose to build a gang. He chose to acquire semiautomatic weapons,” the prosecutors said.
His lawyer countered that Jimenez had little support once he got his settlement, half taken by his lawyers and “the streets would take the rest.”
“Unfortunately, while he had money, he had no guidance. No one suggested he seek financial planning, remain in counseling or that he leave town and make a new start.”
His attorney, Steven Greenberg, wrote: “His new family became the gang, reconstructed from his childhood memory of his uncles, the kids he had run with before his first arrest, and the few people who had stood up for him in prison.”
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