A father and son teamed up to operate a violent narcotics and sex trade operation from a West Side basement, using beatings, threats, and extortion to control victims, prosecutors say.
Dionte Young,52, and his son, Creshon Corbin, 31, badly beat multiple people, held one man captive for six days, and forced him to turn over tens of thousands of dollars, prosecutors said. Another woman who worked for the pair was beaten with a metal pole because she had not paid enough of the money she earned, according to the allegations.
Prosecutors described the “heinous behavior” in a recent detention petition for Corbin, who identified Young as his father and referred to Young as a “pimp,” according to the filing.
The first case came to light on February 8, when Chicago police responded to St. Anthony Hospital shortly after 3:30 p.m. for a report of a battery. The victim told officers that he lived in the same apartment complex in the 3900 block of West Flournoy Street, where Young allegedly sold narcotics from a basement window unit. The victim went to the basement to ask Young to stop selling drugs to his cousin’s girlfriend and to address sex workers coming and going from the building, prosecutors said.
Young and Corbin allegedly responded by striking the man in the face and body with a two-by-four and a chair. Young then stole $8 from the victim, while Corbin warned him that he had better have $100 ready for Young the next time they saw each other, prosecutors said. The victim suffered a broken arm.
Another man’s ordeal began on March 7, when he went to the Flournoy address seeking the services of sex workers associated with Young. Prosecutors said the man had visited the location before. This time, Young and Corbin allegedly beat the man with their fists and a two-by-four before chaining him to a metal pole.
The men took his credit card, demanded his PIN, and used it at multiple ATMs, claiming he owed them $10,000 for prior services, prosecutors said. When the victim told the men he only had stocks, Corbin allegedly gave him a smartphone and forced him to liquidate his portfolio and transfer the proceeds to a bank account.
Two days later, Young drove the victim to a bank branch in Homan Square and ordered him to withdraw $15,000 in cash, according to prosecutors. They then took him to a second bank in Streeterville, where the man was allegedly forced to withdraw another $17,000.
The men brought the victim back to the basement and secured him to the pole, prosecutors said. They allegedly told him he could have all the crack cocaine he wanted but could not leave. When the victim asked to leave two days later because the men had taken all of his money, Corbin allegedly beat him again with a metal pole and told him he needed to pay more.
While he was being held in the basement, the victim spoke with a woman who was also allegedly being held against her will. She worked as a sex worker for Young and Corbin and would later be identified as yet another victim, prosecutors said. The woman told the man that he would get used to being kept there and that it was not so bad.
On the sixth day, Young and Corbin opened the basement door to let a customer inside and the male victim seized the opportunity and ran out. He made his way to a nearby Blue Line station, where he encountered a Chicago police officer who summoned an ambulance. The man was treated for broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Police arrested Young and Corbin in April. While Young was charged, Corbin was released as investigators continued building the case. Despite the close call, prosecutors say, Corbin continued his violent ways.
On June 5, a homeless woman who worked as a sex worker for Young and Corbin gave Corbin $10 from the money she had earned, according to the detention filing. But Corbin allegedly accused her of having more cash and struck her in the knee and head with a metal pole while threatening to kill her and directing a vulgar insult at her.
Illinois State Police troopers later found the woman with a cut on her face and bleeding. They notified Chicago police, who learned that Corbin allegedly beat her because “she had not paid her dues,” prosecutors said. CPD arranged for the woman to receive treatment at Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was found to have a broken nose and facial injuries. She was discharged the following day.
During an interview with investigators, Corbin admitted to selling narcotics and said buyers had to pay him double if they failed to repay him, according to prosecutors.
Corbin’s criminal history includes juvenile adjudications for burglary and theft, as well as adult felony convictions for narcotics offenses and escape. He also has multiple firearms convictions. Prosecutors said Corbin was on parole for his third gun conviction when the alleged crimes occurred.
Judge Rivanda Doss Beal granted the state’s request to detain Corbin pending trial. He is charged with attempted murder and multiple counts of aggravated kidnapping, armed robbery, and aggravated battery.
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