When Terrance Scott stood before federal judge Joan Lefkow in June, he was hoping to receive some sympathy for the spot he’d been in—and a lighter prison sentence as a result.
“People are scared straight for a number of reasons,” Sassan said.
By the time he was in his early 20s, Scott had been arrested 20 times, mostly for drug-related offenses. On one occasion he was picked up after being caught calling out “Blows!” to cars around Kedzie and Ohio. The corner has been one of the leading drug marketplaces in Chicago for decades—police make hundreds of busts in that area each year, more than almost anywhere else in the city.
Terrance Scott wasn’t involved in the coordination or management of the operation at Kedzie and Ohio—he was a pack worker who sold bags on the street. As is customary in the business, he worked on commission: he’d get to keep $20, or an equivalent value of heroin, for every dozen $10 bags he dealt. The street managers took another cut and then turned over the majority to Austin.
Tensions were high around the drug spot, witnesses later told authorities. When a freelancer nicknamed “E” tried selling heroin nearby without getting approval, he was caught and given a “violation,” or beating, by Jeffrey Scott and three others.
A little more than an hour later, at 1:35 AM, someone called 911 to report gunshots on Franklin. It turned out to be Soto. Responding police found him in the SUV with a female companion, a social worker named Kathryn Romberg. She was dead, killed by a shot to the head.
