Mom, 2 sons among 11 hit with federal gun, drug charges

After a multi-year investigation by federal and local law enforcement agencies, 11 people were hit with criminal gun and drug charges, including a mother and two of her sons.

Harriette McPherson, 46, and her sons Rakim Asad, 26, and Sincere Brannon, 19, were among the 11 people charged with felonies, the U.S. attorney’s office in the northern district of Illinois said.

McPherson and Asad face charges of possession of cocaine and marijuana with an intent to deliver, while Brannon faces a variety of drug charges, the attorney’s office said. Asad and Brannon are also both charged with knowingly possessing a handgun during a drug crime.

Over the course of the investigation, authorities seized 29 firearms and ammunition, a machete, about a kilo of cocaine, 78 pounds of marijuana, over $190,000 in suspected illicit cash and over $300,000 worth of diamond jewelry, Rolex watches and designer clothing, according to the attorney’s office. The majority of the alleged drug trafficking happened on the South Side of Chicago.

Among the jewelry seized from Asad were two necklaces with gold pendants reading “LAFA” in diamonds, which the state’s attorney’s office believes is a reference to a street gang in Chicago.

Allegations against the other eight defendants range from conspiring to rob a drug dealer of marijuana to storing controlled substances in a storage unit, the state’s attorney’s office said.

The charges carry maximum penalties between 20 years to life in prison.