

The top was down on Thaddeus Jimenez's shiny Mercedes convertible and opera music blared on the stereo as he and a gang associate drove around Chicago's Northwest Side looking for someone to shoot. Just three years earlier, Jimenez had won a staggering $25 million verdict for his wrongful murder conviction. But instead of building a new life, he used the windfall to rejuvenate his old gang, paying recruitment bonuses, buying guns and fancy cars, and even giving cash prizes to members willing to tattoo their faces with the Simon City Royals insignia. Cruising the Irving Park neighborhood on that muggy Monday morning in August 2015, Jimenez carried a sapphire blue, custom-plated pistol and had Gucci luggage bags crammed with extra ammunition stowed in the back seat, court records show. His passenger, Jose Roman, held a .22-caliber Mossberg semiautomatic rifle at his side as he filmed their travels with his iPhone. Shortly after 11 a.m., Jimenez pulled the Mercedes up to an ex-gang member who knew the two men and greeted them warmly. As the camera rolled, Earl Casteel, 33, was startled to hear Jimenez threaten him. Posted By Ghost