A judge on Thursday ordered Ernesto Godinez, the 28-year-old man accused in the shooting of an ATF agent in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, held without bond, calling him a danger to the community.
“Your past history of dangerousness is enough to warrant no bond,” Judge Maria Valdez said.
In the latest hearing for the man who police say turned himself in in connection with the crime, prosecutors claimed Godinez fired five shots down a dark gangway, striking the agent in the face as he walked away from the scene.
An attorney for Godinez argued that no gun has been recovered and authorities have no concrete evidence identifying Godinez as the man responsible.
But prosecutors argued that Godinez’s history raised concerns over whether he should be allowed out on bond. They allege Godinez has a lengthy record of gun crimes, including a 2015 conviction for aggravated discharge of a firearm in 2011, when he reportedly shouted “Saints love” as he discharged his gun four times at a group of people.
Then, in 2012, prosecutors said he threw a loaded gun out of the window of a vehicle.
He pleaded guilty to lesser charges and served five years for both crimes.
Chicago Crime Commission General Council Andrew Henning claimed Godinez has ties to a dangerous faction of the Almighty Saints street gang.
“That gang and the faction that he is a part of have had a huge stronghold on suffocating that community and tormenting them through violence,” Henning said.
Local
Still, Godinez’s attorney said he has turned his life around and is helping to raise two children.
“Mr. Godinez has made a difference in his life,” said Lawrence Hymann. “Most of the crimes he committed were from 17 to 20. When he left jail, he wasn’t going back to any other place. He wasn’t going to Naperville. He was going to this community.”
