Angelo “LO” Roberts was the leader of the Four Corner Hustlers, a Chicago street gang he ran from 1992 until he was murdered in January 1995 at age 24. His short tenure covered an expansion of the gang’s crack cocaine operations on the West Side, suspected involvement in multiple killings, and a federal indictment accusing him of trying to buy an anti-tank rocket to destroy a Chicago police station.
Family Ties and Early Years
Roberts came into the Four Corner Hustlers through family. He was the stepson of Walter Wheat, one of the gang’s original founders, and he married Wheat’s daughter, with whom he had children.1Chicago Gang History. Four Corner Hustlers Before joining, he belonged to the Gangster Stones in the Henry Horner public housing projects.
An uncle who was a Vietnam veteran, rumored to have served in special forces, trained him in Aikido, Wing Chun, and Japanese Karate. The discipline reportedly carried into Roberts’ personal habits: he abstained from alcohol and drugs, unusual for a gang leader during the crack era, and stories circulated that no one in Chicago could beat him in a fight.1Chicago Gang History. Four Corner Hustlers
Roberts joined the Four Corner Hustlers in 1987, the same year Monroe “Money” Banks was released from prison and began pushing the gang from heroin into crack cocaine. Banks’ shift put him at odds with Walter Wheat, who opposed the move, but Banks overruled him and took leadership. Roberts became a key lieutenant under Banks, converting his former Gangster Stones associates into Four Corner Hustlers members and extending the crack trade into the Henry Horner projects.1Chicago Gang History. Four Corner Hustlers
His loyalty was tested early. In January 1988, fellow member Eugene Rhoiney tortured and killed a drug addict named Stephen Edwards, whose body was found behind a Jewel grocery store on West Grand Avenue. Roberts was implicated but invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to cooperate with police. Rhoiney was convicted and sentenced to life without parole; Roberts walked free, and the silence cemented his reputation inside the gang.1Chicago Gang History. Four Corner Hustlers State records later showed convictions for concealing a homicide and unlawful use of a weapon, which appear to have stemmed from that case or related incidents.2UPI. Police: Gang Wanted to Blow Up Station
Taking Over the Gang in 1992
Monroe Banks was assassinated in August 1991, shot to death while watching a man try to retrieve a cat from a tree. According to the television show Gangland, the shooter was a member of the rival Black Souls.1Chicago Gang History. Four Corner Hustlers Walter Wheat briefly resumed control, then handed leadership to his stepson in 1992. Roberts was 22.
Under Roberts, the Four Corner Hustlers pushed into new territory in Uptown and West Ridge on the North Side while consolidating in the Henry Horner and Rockwell Gardens housing projects. Much of his time as leader, though, was spent incarcerated. In spring 1994, he was convicted on state charges and sent to the Illinois River Correctional Center in central Illinois.3Findlaw. US v. Are
The Violent Summer of 1994
Roberts was released in June 1994 and, according to investigators, immediately set out to retake and tighten his grip on the gang. Within a week, Tony Davis, a former ally who had been running drug sales at the Henry Horner Homes, was shot dead. Police tied the killing to the power struggle. Mark Hanney, part of Roberts’ crew, was one of two men later charged in Davis’s death.4Chicago Tribune. 5 in Gang Face US Charges
On July 25, 1994, Walter “King Wheat” Wheat, the 43-year-old co-founder and Roberts’ own stepfather, was assassinated. Wheat was sitting alone in his car on the 3800 block of West Chicago Avenue when a man in his twenties rode up on a bicycle and shot him twice, once in the chest and once in the head. Police described it as a planned hit but could not immediately say whether it came from inside the gang or from a rival.5Chicago Tribune. Bicyclist Kills West Side Gang Chief Sitting in His Car Investigators later linked Roberts to the killing, though he was never charged.4Chicago Tribune. 5 in Gang Face US Charges
The Plot to Blow Up a Police Station
Authorities said Roberts carried a deep grudge against the Chicago Police Department and Chicago Housing Authority police after repeated arrests and crackdowns on his drug operations. He turned that hostility into a plan to destroy the Harrison District police station at 3151 W. Harrison Street.4Chicago Tribune. 5 in Gang Face US Charges
On July 14, 1994, Roberts and four associates met with undercover agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The group offered $4,000 in cash and a quarter-kilogram of cocaine, valued at $5,000 to $6,000, in exchange for an anti-tank LAW rocket, three M-16 combat rifles, and two machine guns fitted with silencers. Roberts wanted the rocket specifically to blow up the police station.2UPI. Police: Gang Wanted to Blow Up Station
Roberts sensed a setup and fled before agents could arrest him. A federal indictment handed up on October 20, 1994, charged him and four co-defendants with conspiracy to acquire illegal weapons. Mark Hanney, 21, was convicted at a bench trial of conspiring to buy weapons and sentenced to 15 years. Shawn Ivy, 22, was acquitted. Alvin Finney, 24, and James Frazier, 23, both pleaded guilty and cooperated with the government, with Frazier testifying at Hanney’s trial.6Chicago Tribune. Prison Sentence Closes Book on Rocket Attack Plot
Roberts stayed on the run. Commander Donald Hilbring called him “the key guy” and warned that loyal followers would still carry out his orders while he was a fugitive.4Chicago Tribune. 5 in Gang Face US Charges
Murder in a Car Trunk
His time as a fugitive ended on January 16, 1995. At 1 a.m., his body was found in the trunk of a brown Chevrolet at 7009 S. Vernon Avenue on the South Side. His throat had been slashed. He was 24.7Chicago Tribune. Slaying Victim May Be Man Tied to Bomb Plot
At the time of his death, Roberts was wanted on the federal weapons charges and was suspected by police in at least two homicides, including the killing of his stepfather. No one was reported to have been charged or taken into custody for his slaying.7Chicago Tribune. Slaying Victim May Be Man Tied to Bomb Plot
The Gang After Roberts
His death did not break the Four Corner Hustlers. The gang continued to operate across the West Side for decades and remained a target of major federal cases. In 2017, Labar “Bro Man” Spann, identified as a later leader, was indicted with eight other gang members and two additional individuals on federal racketeering charges. A jury found that Spann had ordered four premeditated murders between 2000 and 2003. After a retrial ordered because a former prosecutor had made an unauthorized promise to a key witness, Spann was convicted again in December 2025 and sentenced to mandatory life in federal prison in April 2026.8U.S. Department of Justice. Leader of Chicago Street Gang Sentenced to Life in Prison9Chicago Sun-Times. Labar Spann Four Corner Hustlers Retrial All eleven defendants in that indictment have been convicted.10CBS News Chicago. Four Corner Hustlers Street Gang Leader Prison Racketeering Conspiracy Murders