A motion to release alleged Mafia Insane Vice Lord gang member and high-ranking drug dealer Jermaine Banks into his mother’s custody in Forest Park was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on Aug. 15.
The motion, filed by the law firm Kent R. Carlson and Associates, states that Banks’ mother, Linda Banks, is willing to post her home at 125 Desplaines Ave. as security for her son’s bond.
It states, “Linda Banks is willing to co-sign the bond and act as a third party custodian of her son, and if required would allow him to reside with her at her residence.”
The document attests that, if released, Banks promises to abide by any and all conditions of bond imposed by the judge, including home detention or confinement.
A reputed associate of high-ranking Mafia Insane Vice Lord Gregory Hudgins, Banks, 26, was arrested Jan. 10 on four charges related to his alleged role in a drug operation controlled by the Mafia Insane Vice Lords.
Banks, often referred to as “Puba,” and several of his associates were allegedly caught in November of 2003 with 25.3 grams of heroin in 253 tenth-gram bags.
At the time of his arrest, Banks was listed as having homes in both Forest Park and Chicago.
After being named as one of 44 defendants in the May 2004 Operation Day Trader sweep by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, Banks became a fugitive and was not captured until January.
Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer recommended that Banks be held without bond, but Carlson is asking her to revisit that decision in light of the newly proposed conditions of release which were not yet in place at the time of his arrest.
Banks is facing 10 years to life for his role in the operation. Trials for the Operation Day Trader defendants have been separated into four separate groups at the request of the U.S. Attorney’s office.
The motion does not specify which of these dates had been set for Banks’ trial.
The Operation Day Trader sweep resulted in the arrests of many of the Mafia Insane Vice Lords’ top drug dealers, who mostly operated in Austin and Garfield Park.
Other Forest Parkers arrested in the sweep included Wallace Simmons, 50, who was charged with three felonies relating to storing and helping to deliver drugs from his apartment on the 7400 block of Washington Street.
Simmons was allegedly working for his nephew, Donnell Simmons, 39, a high-ranking Vice Lord who was arrested in June of 2004.
Despite repeated phone calls, neither Carlson nor Linda Banks could be reached for comment for this story.
