Alleged gang member arrested in Fresno shooting inquiry

Alleged gang member was arrested during an investigation of a shooting late Thursday in southeast Fresno.Police said they while investigating reports of a shooting about 10:40 p.m. on the 4700 block of East Woodward Avenue, they searched a home and found a loaded, large-caliber handgun.Terrence Reed, 21, of Fresno, was held on suspicion of being an ex-felon with a firearm, illegal possession of ammunition and violating probation. The shooting victim, a male, was not found. Police checked area hospitals but did not locate the man

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Diego Montoya,head of the drug gang Montoya, aka Don Diego,extradited

Crime boss suspect Diego Montoya was sent to the United States yesterday to face charges of smuggling hundreds of tonnes of cocaine, marking what police called the end of the Norte del Valle cartel.Authorities say that as head of the drug gang Montoya, known as Don Diego, helped it supplant the once-mighty Medellin and Cali cartels. He was captured last year after a long manhunt that ended when police raided his farmhouse hide-out and found him cowering in a ditch dressed only in his underwear. It was an ignominious end to the career of the portly billionaire who is accused of governing a crime empire from his base near the city of Cali. He appeared next to Osama bin Laden on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list. Montoya, in sunglasses, handcuffed and wearing a blue dress shirt under a bulletproof vest, was shown on television boarding a plane headed for Miami, where he is wanted by a federal court on charges including money laundering. Montoya has not been tried in Colombia, where he is accused of hundreds of murders. "This extradition means the end of the Norte del Valle cartel," national police chief Oscar Naranjo told reporters. "All of its major leaders have been caught or killed." But the gang still exports cocaine from Colombia's Pacific coast, said Bogota-based security consultant Pablo Casas. "This is the end of one boss but it is not the end of the Norte del Valle organization. Drug bosses multiply in Colombia like bacteria in a petri dish," Casas said. The cartel's violent exploits inspired this year's No. 1-rated local TV soap opera called "Cartel de los Sapos" ("Cartel of the Snitches"), which traced the story of how Norte del Valle became the biggest drug gang in Colombia. Another key Norte del Valle leader, Wilber Varela, was found shot dead in Venezuela early this year after a gunfight among rival smuggling organizations. Montoya's brother Eugenio was extradited to the United States earlier this year on charges of cocaine trafficking.
Colombia has extradited hundreds of drug suspects to the United States but cocaine exports from the Andean country remain steady at about 600 tonnes a year, according to the United Nations.

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Nghia Trong Nguyen-Tran, also known as Jackie Tran, rejected warnings he was a murder target and said he had no intentions of leaving gang life.

Nghia Trong Nguyen-Tran, also known as Jackie Tran, rejected warnings he was a murder target and said he had no intentions of leaving gang life.Walker told a deportation appeal hearing that Tran told him: `This isn't going to be over until they are all dead or we are all dead.' Tran's lawyer Steve Virk told the hearing Walker, who is with the Calgary police organized crime unit, did not qualify as a gang expert.Virk suggested police have tunnel vision in their thirst to get gangs off the street.He questioned the credibility of Walker's sources, including readings on gangs which Virk said do not speak to the two Calgary gangs, Fresh off the Boat and Fresh off the Boat Killers

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major gangs operating in Aurora—the Latin Kings, the Vice Lords, and the Insane Deuces

There are still major gangs operating in the city—the Latin Kings, the Vice Lords, and the Insane Deuces—along with many smaller gang factions. They don't control territory like inner-city gangs. Instead, they usually run drugs out of ordinary-looking homes and businesses. Unlike inner-city gangs who frequently dabble in protection rackets, the gangs here generally leave local businesses alone. Part of the reason for that, law enforcement officers say, is that Aurora's retail scene consists mostly of big-box stores and national franchises rather than mom and pop establishments, which are more susceptible to extortion.
Nationwide, gauging the true scope of the gang problem is difficult, chiefly because law enforcement lacks a common definition of a gangster or what makes a particular crime gang-related. The FBI estimates that there are about 785,000 gang members in the country belonging to some 26,500 different gangs in 3,400 communities. That estimate excludes outlaw motorcycle and prison gangs. Even more troubling, a third of all communities say they have no gang problem when they actually do. It's a denial bred from either fear or stigma, according to the FBI.The thousands of active gangs around the country each have their own signs, lingo, and culture. Drug dealing and gun violence are common denominators, but each behaves differently depending on its location. In the Northeast, for instance, there's been a rise in the number of neighborhood and hybrid gangs composed of members of several different organizations. Around Washington, D.C., and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs, meanwhile, the Latin American gang MS-13, best known for attacking its rivals with machetes, has become a particularly tough problem. There, cocaine and marijuana are the main drugs moved through gang networks.In the Midwest, the amount of gang activity around college campuses and schools is on the rise. Hispanic gangs are using Native American surrogates to move drugs onto Indian reservations, where gang activity is also on the rise. And out West, street gangs are diversifying their criminal portfolios to include identity theft while continuing to supply narcotics, mostly methamphetamines and marijuana. Gangs in the West are also most likely to partner with organized crime, particularly the Mexican drug cartels and the Asian mafia.Wherever they operate, gangs are increasingly turning to computers and the Internet. Often behind password-protected sites, they post photo-graphs of their own gang signs, colors, and tattoos. Police even report that some gangs are using their websites to take positions on local political issues. In fact, sites like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube have become quite useful to police gathering intelligence or investigating specific crimes. "Some gang members in Maryland are not too bright, and they will often post pictures of themselves and their gangs online or shoot videos of themselves defacing property or committing other crimes," says Charles Rapp, director of the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Center, which helps scour open-source information for law enforcement agencies. For their part, the gangs sometimes post misleading information to fool police or rival gangs about potential meetings or activities.Yet despite all their bravado, at their essence the gangs remain fraternities of lawlessness, replenished with scores of young men from troubled neighborhoods in the name of belonging, enterprise, or necessity. "The pervasiveness of gangs throughout society is undeniable," the Justice Department concluded in its latest National Gang Threat Assessment in 2005. "As they migrate across the country, they bring with them drugs, weapons, and criminal activity."
Gangs are, however, also vulnerable because of their insatiable demand for guns, a weakness that federal officers are learning to exploit. Put simply, they are always looking for more guns to protect themselves and their illicit merchandise. Ammunition is also often in low supply for street gangs. Most gangsters use guns only once. They know that after a crime, the ATF enters the bullets or shell casings into databases to trace them. "Gangsters watch shows like CSI as homework and watch History Channel documentaries about gangs as research," says one veteran gang investigator. Guns are also lost, seized by the police, or broken during normal use. "Gangs will try to have enough guns for each full member to have access to one, though they also share between themselves," says Jared Lewis, a retired cop from the Modesto, Calif., antigang task force who now researches street gangs. Fortunately, that makes them easier targets for undercover operations. Add to that stricter laws under which those caught with guns and drugs face harsh sentences, and the effects are starting to be felt.

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Barossa's Most Wanted - based around street bashing, hoon driving and drugs - is striking often in towns in the region.

Barossa's Most Wanted - based around street bashing, hoon driving and drugs - is striking often in towns in the region. Commissioner for Victims' Rights Michael O'Connell, a former police officer, said it was "frightening that much of the violence appears to be committed for pleasure". "These videos cater for the public fascination with violence, they promote hostility, and the victims are not always humans - animals are sickeningly mistreated, even mutilated," he said.
Aged from 15 to 20, the Barossa group's website features video of an unprovoked public bashing of a youth in Hindley St.The group claims to initiate the violence so the images can be distributed "just for fun and jokes". The site advertises prices for methamphetamines, refers to hoon driving and displays numerous sadistic images.
"Barossa's Most Wanted . . . We are proud of who we are . . . We would like to meet anyone who is like us!, Don't Giva F . . . ! Into booze brawls and all the hardcore s . . . ," the website boasts. A second group, Salisbury Most Wanted, also has its own web page based on violence and Australian nationalist propaganda, including threats of violence against the Barossa group. The site features a photograph of an Australian flag with a large machete lying across it and other violent images. Another unidentified group or individual in the South-East has this week circulated a mobile phone image of a teenager who had been stabbed. It was taken on Saturday night in the town of Nangwarry and shows the teenager lying in a pool of blood in a street. The youth is in a stable condition in Royal Adelaide Hospital. Experts say the growing trend is aimed at attaining celebrity status. Mr O'Connell said: "These videos too often show that people - frequently young people - are capable of terrible brutality. "It is disgusting to see these people . . . verbally and physically terrorising their victims and innocent bystanders. "For the victims there is no humour or entertainment. "These videos and the cyber-chatter they generate are an invasion of the victim's privacy." Barossa Valley Senior Sergeant Martin Kennedy said that since last year, police intelligence had been tracking the individuals who have since formed the Barossa group. Sen-Sgt Kennedy said several gang members had been arrested in recent months for assault, graffiti and property damage. The Barossa group's website boasts of court appearances and home detention. "Intelligence officers have been monitoring what they put up on the internet and we have access to all their sites," Sen-Sgt Kennedy said.
He said the style of crime had been identified not only in the Barossa. "We have had it here but there have also been examples throughout other parts of South Australia - it is pretty well a new thing everywhere." Psychologist Daryl Cross said the trend was disturbing because of the nature of the crimes. "These people (who take the pictures) are highly disturbed, they lack empathy, they lack a complete understanding of others and they lack compassion," he said. "And because they're highly disturbed they get their significance or their feeling of notoriety from taking photographs and publishing them to others." The Australian Hotels Association's Barossa Valley representative, Andrew Plush, who owns hotels in Angaston, Kapunda and Nuriootpa, said the Barossa group emerged 12 months ago. "They are under pub-aged kids, 13, 14 or 15, so they don't tend to make it into the pubs," Mr Plush said. Victims of the 40-member Barossa's Most Wanted, who feared being named, have told The Advertiser of the havoc resulting from the violence and appealed for action. Earlier this year, fights involving schoolgirls at a Gawler railway station were posted on the YouTube website. "Counselling and talking will not stop this . . . so the only thing that impacts on these individuals is penalties," Dr Cross said. "It (filming) is almost as bad as committing the crime, there's a fine line here." Attorney-General Michael Atkinson said laws already existed to govern the distribution of offensive material through carriage services. "The Commonwealth charge of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence carries a maximum penalty of three years' jail," he said.

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leader of the Bounty Hunter Bloods Mikal Mustafa Mix threatened to have the gang's co-leader, Marlon Reed, killed for testifying

In court Monday, a federal judge and a prosecutor said Mikal Mustafa Mix threatened to have the gang's co-leader, Marlon Reed, killed for testifying against Mix.U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Friedman made the comment just before sentencing Mix to life in prison, plus five years, for being the gang leader and committing a long list of violent crimes, including helping a group of teenagers evade capture after a 2007 mob killing in Ocean View.Friedman, citing a confidential pre-sentence report, said Mix tried to recruit someone to kill Reed at the Chesapeake Correctional Center and then later tried to make arrangements to have Reed killed after he was transferred to federal prison."Is there anything you'd like to say?" Friedman asked Mix."No, sir," Mix replied.Friedman sentenced Mix, 31, to multiple life terms, but ran them all concurrently. He tacked on an additional five years to run consecutively for having a gun while trafficking drugs.Mix was convicted at trial this summer of 16 felonies, including being an accessory to murder, and faced an almost certain life sentence. Co-defendant Gary Lynn Toliver Jr., described in court as a second-tier gang leader, was sentenced last week to life plus 207 years. Toliver was convicted of a number of gun-related charges that carried mandatory consecutive prison terms beyond what Mix faced. Mix had one gun-related count.Mix's attorney tried to argue for a minimum sentence of 35 years in prison, saying that Reed's testimony was unreliable. Reed, a co-leader of the gang, was sentenced to 19 years in prison, a substantial reduction from what he could have gotten.
Friedman dismissed the attorney's argument."There was more than sufficient evidence," Friedman said.Reed's testimony was key to the prosecution's case. He described in detail the workings of the gang, from initiations and drug deals to their signature home invasion robberies. He said Mix and a relative moved here around 2000 from New York to start the gang, recruiting him as one of the earliest members."Obviously, nobody likes gangs," said Mix's attorney, Lawrence H. Woodward Jr. "But I don't believe Mr. Mix was involved to the extent what other people said."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Muhr described how Mix helped protect a group of teenagers implicated in the July 2007 mob beating death of 19-year-old James Robertson in Ocean View.Mix forced several of the teenage girls to stay in a hotel room out of sight and helped another teen get out of town.Muhr asked the judge to send a message to juveniles "who think they want to live the gangster life.""The Bounty Hunter Bloods has only brought destruction and violence to Norfolk," he said.

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Fransisco Rangel, who they say has a Sur 13 emblem tattooed on his cheek., wanted for what officers say was a gang-related slaying

Fransisco Rangel, who they say has a Sur 13 emblem tattooed on his cheek., wanted for what officers say was a gang-related slaying, jumped out of his car in the middle of the town and began firing at pursuing deputies with an assault rife.His spray of bullets killed a passenger in a nearby car - Candelario Lagunes, a 58-year-old grandfather.
In the fast and furious fusillade, one deputy was forced to fire through his windshield as the assailant approached.The toll could have been even higher. The gunman's shooting was so indiscriminate that deputies later found holes in a traffic light.The rampage paralyzed the normally peaceful East Hillsborough town. Schools were locked down. City officials canceled the annual Christmas parade scheduled that evening.Fortunately, Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies soon caught the suspect, Fransisco Rangel, who they say has a Sur 13 emblem tattooed on his cheek.The terrifying event underscores the danger gangs pose to our community.Make no mistake. The threat to Hillsborough is real. Street gangs are not just found in urban wastelands of New York, Chicago or Los Angeles.Gangs can be found throughout Hillsborough, indeed throughout the region.Sheriff David Gee says his office has identified more than 150 gangs. Some may be small and fairly innocuous, but 50 are well-organized and linked to national criminal networks. And even some of the local gangs are violent.Officials say there are at least 3,200 gang members in the region. Their crimes may range from scribbling graffiti to trying to assassinate rival drug dealers. In the last year, Hillsborough's gang unit has handled more than 200 cases.And in the last few years, there have been gang-related shootings in virtually every part of the county, including a double-homicide in Town 'N Country.One might have gotten a different impression last spring when a judge threw out most of the charges in a major case against reputed members of the Latin Kings.The defense attorney mocked the prosecutors' warnings about gangs. And even the judge seemed to dismiss the threat of the targeted gang.The judge's ruling was correct, since Tampa Police had relied on a paid informant with a lengthy criminal record who threatened individuals into attending the meeting where they were arrested.
But any conclusion that the Latin Kings, Sur 13 or other gangs are not a grave threat to the community's safety is wishful thinking.Deputies say gangs have a major role in gun trading, dope dealing and other criminal transactions.Local law enforcement officials, to their credit, take the threat seriously.Gee created a gang-monitoring unit shortly after his election four years ago and has worked with the Tampa Police Department and other law enforcement agencies to try to keep the gangs in check.When these vicious hoodlums are allowed to run wild, they can utterly destroy a neighborhood, robbing residents of their property values and personal security.
As Hillsborough Sheriff Maj. Harold Winsett, who oversees criminal investigations, says, "People don't realize how fast a community can deteriorate if they don't pay attention to the threat."Hillsborough must take every reasonable step to keep a close eye on this criminal cancer and keep it under control

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lawsuit targets nine imprisoned leaders of the 18th Street gang, including two leaders of the Mexican Mafia

The nine leaders of the 18th Street gang named in the suit are: Sergio "Tricky" Pantoja, Frank "Puppet" Martinez, Araceli "Traviesa" Bravo, Michael "Mousie" Pineda, Jose Juan "Wicked" Alvarez, Noe "Lil Duster" Chavez, Efrain "Dandy Boy" Ruiz Torres, Jose "Toro" Morales Perez and Ruben "Nite Owl" Castro.
lawsuit targets nine imprisoned leaders of the 18th Street gang, including two leaders of the Mexican Mafia, and demands civil damages on behalf of residents of two city neighborhoods. If successful, the suit would distribute proceeds from seized homes, businesses and other assets to neighborhood residents who cannot file suit themselves because they fear retaliation, prosecutors say. Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo"Today, we're sending a message to gang leaders across this city: If you break the law, we will not only find you, arrest you and put you behind bars, we will also take away your money, your property, your homes and your cars," City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo said. "Every penny we strip away will be returned to the neighborhoods."Delgadillo said the action is necessary because the gang leaders, even though they are in prison, collect profits from illegal "street taxes" imposed on residents of the Pico-Union and Westlake areas, where drug dealers, store owners and even ice cream vendors must pay protection.The suit seeks compensation for all property damage, property devaluation, emotional distress, personal injury, medical expenses and time in which residents could not use public parks because of gang activity.
Castro, 46, is a leader, or carnal, of the Mexican Mafia, also known as the "La Eme" prison gang. Authorities say Castro controls two cliques of the 18th Street gang -- the Shatto Park Locos and the Hoover Locos.Castro is alleged to have run those gang cliques from a federal maximum-security prison in Colorado, where he is serving multiple life terms and was recently sentenced to an additional 27 years and three months for racketeering. Prosecutors say that from behind bars, Martinez, another La Eme carnal, allegedly made as much as $40,000 a month from criminal activity. Delgadillo said that if a judgment is won against the gang leaders in civil court, legitimately acquired assets can also be garnered. He said many of the assets are concealed by relatives and will be aggressively pursued.At the home of one Martinez relative, investigators found $444,605 stashed in storage boxes and in a vacuum cleaner bag, according to Bruce Riordan, the city attorney's gang prosecutor and a former federal prosecutor of the 18th Street gang and Mexican Mafia.
"Included on the bank notes were 18th Street marks with streets and collectors' names," he said."We have come across investment in juice bars, even," Riordan said.
Another of the nine, Pantoja, owned a local tattoo parlor, Unico’s, which was shut down by prosecutors because, authorities said, it was the center of a cocaine sales operation.State officials have frozen prison accounts of some Pelican Bay State Prison inmates with large sums on the books.The gang extorts as much as 30% of the take from some businesses in and around MacArthur Park, Riordan said. A baby was killed last year in that area when, prosecutors said, gang members were threatening a business owner.City prosecutors can bring the suit thanks to a newly enacted state law, which allows them to act on behalf of members of the neighborhoods affected by gang activity and collect monetary damages awarded in specific civil actions. The law allows such actions in areas with gang injunctions. The 18th Street gang is already the subject of five gang injunctions by city prosecutors.The lawsuit involves neighborhoods covered by two of the five injunctions against the 18th Street gang. The Pico-Union neighborhood is bounded by James M. Wood Boulevard to the north, the 110 Freeway to the east, the 10 Freeway to the south and Hoover Street to the west. The Westlake neighborhood is bounded by Beverly Boulevard to the north, the 110 Freeway to the east, James M. Wood Boulevard to the south and Normandie Avenue to the west."This prosecution will make this community whole again," LAPD Deputy Chief Charlie Beck said.

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Baseball bats, pipes and knives were used in a fight late Saturday between rival gang members near the Veterans Hall

Baseball bats, pipes and knives were used in a fight late Saturday between rival gang members near the Veterans Hall, the Tehama County Sheriff's Office reported.
When officers and deputies arrived on scene the fight was over and many subjects had left the area, said a spokesperson for the Tehama County Sheriff's Office.The fight was between two major state rival gangs. The Record Searchlight doesn't name gangs.
During the fight, some members of the rival gangs used baseball bats and sticks, said the sheriff's office.One person was knifed in the throat, causing one of the other victims to intervene, leaving her cut on the arm and neck.A third victim tried to help the first two and was cut on the ear, said the sheriff's office.Elmer Figueroa, 36, suffered an abrasion and swelling to the head. Three juvenile males and one juvenile female suffered cuts and abrasions in the fight, the sheriff's office said. All the victims were treated and released from St. Elizabeth Hospital in Red Bluff.

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Brittany Vanderpool, 21, was sentenced Monday to 9 years for her role in the gang-related Spartanburg murder of John Costanza.

Brittany Vanderpool, 21, was sentenced Monday to 9 years for her role in the gang-related Spartanburg murder of John Costanza. Vanderpool is charged with accessory after the fact of a felony and obstructing justice. In court Monday, she told the judge she did not know Costanza had died, and said she wished she could change what happened. Costanza’s father told the judge he believes Vanderpool could have saved his son’s life.Spartanburg County investigators say John Costanza was found beaten to death on November, 2007 near the Canaan Point Apartment complex after he decided not to join a gang.Costanza died of hypothermia and internal injuries from the attack.Gregory Scott received a life sentence - without possibility of parole - for murder and lynching in July.Among the earlier sentences in October were DeMario Mack who got 23 years in Prison, Rico Washington was sentenced to 27 years and James McDowell’s sentence was 20 years.Christopher Foster also received 25 years in prison for the crime.

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Fransisco Rangel, 25, is suspected in the fatal shooting of Plant City resident Michael Longoria Thursday, and the wounding of a second man.

Fransisco Rangel, 25, is suspected in the fatal shooting of Plant City resident Michael Longoria Thursday, and the wounding of a second man.On Friday, deputies sent to arrest Rangel encountered him as he was driving, and a chase began. About 9:15 a.m., Rangel stopped near Strawberry Plaza and opened fire, killing Lagunes and getting away, according to the Sheriff's Office.
None of the deputies were injured, and after about a seven-hour hunt through residential Plant City, Rangel was caught. He is being held in the Orient Road Jail without bail.Carter confirmed that Rangel is a member of the Sur 13 gang, a Latino gang prominent in Plant City, Dover and West Tampa.Sheriff David Gee said tattoos led deputies to believe he was a gang member, and Carter said, "Everything that we've done in the investigation leads us to believe he was a Sur 13 member."
Sur is Spanish for "south." Sur 13 originated in the street gangs of Southern California. The number 13 indicates the 13th letter of the alphabet: M, short for Mexican Mafia prison organization, with which Sur 13 is affiliated.Gee announced in 2006 that the gang had a growing local influence. Its graffiti pops up on the outskirts of Plant City.The gang played a part in an attempted murder last month in Tampa. Three people identified as Sur 13 gang members attacked two men with glass bottles and a machete, shouting "Sur 13!" and "We're going to take you out!" a witness said.Investigators still aren't sure of the motive behind Thursday's shooting, which left Michael Longoria, 36, of Plant City, dead. Rangel also is suspected in the shooting of another man, who is in a hospital and will likely survive, Carter said. Deputies haven't released his name.Longoria's mother said she doesn't believe her son was a member of any gangs. Lupe Williams, 63, met Rangel recently, but she doesn't think he was a close friend of her son's. She has no idea why he would have shot Longoria, who left behind five children, ages 14, 11, 9, 7 and 3.Longoria grew up in a migrant family that worked in the fields from North Carolina to Florida until settling in Plant City in the early 1990s, Williams said. Longoria got his high school diploma, even though it was tough going to school while working, she said. "He was a hard worker," she said.Longoria has a long list of arrests, mostly drug-related, and a one-year prison stay in 2004. His mother conceded he sometimes got into trouble because "he'd hang out with some of the wrong people," but she insisted he was good at heart.
Now, her son won't pop over for dinner anymore, and she won't be able to do his laundry, which she did even though he didn't live with her. "He's my baby, so I never cared," she said.

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largest gang in Framingham is the Kendall Street Thugs, with approximately 56 members

largest gang in Framingham is the Kendall Street Thugs, with approximately 56 members, Ferguson said.That group has been particularly active in the drug trade since their inception in 1998, and have recently merged with the Southsides, another downtown street gang. They are known to assault those who resist joining the gang.During the presentation, Ferguson showed several photos, both taken by police and others found on Myspace, of KST members hanging out during the Boston Marathon.
"They often come out when we're dealing with the marathon because they know we're busy," Ferguson said.Other local gangs include the recently-discovered Deuces, who have 20 known members.The leader of the gang, who was not identified at the meeting, is a former member of the Asian Boyz, a Lowell gang, who came to Framingham and started his own gang, Ferguson said.National gangs include the Latin Kings (28 members), the Bloods (nine members), the Crips (one member), SUR-13 (13 members), MS-13 (four members) and a Brazilian gang made up of several smaller gangs (40 members).Several photos of local members wearing gang colors, or flashing gang hand-signs and displaying gang tattoos were displayed, as well as photos of gang graffiti.
The membership numbers are only estimates, the deputy chief said. It is possible there are other members.Gangs are not anything new in town. Motorcycle gangs have always gone through Framingham, and street gangs such as the Sax Gang and the 5-0s were popular during the 70s."Since I have been a child, there have been gangs," said Ferguson. "Here in Framingham, we've been very proactive, and even one gang member is one too many."The key, Ferguson said, is finding potential gang members before they join the gangs."We identify wannabes," he said. "If you don't address the problem, they will become going-to-bes."Ferguson said the police work with schools to try to identify at-risk youths, such as those with older siblings in gangs, and try to steer them away from the lifestyle.The police department also uses the street crimes unit, as well as crime analysis, to determine gang hot spots and try to keep gangs in check, Ferguson said."What you have to keep in mind is it's not against the law to be in a gang," he said.During questioning, one resident asked about the police hiring Brazilian officers. Police Chief Steven Carl said the department has offered jobs to two Brazilians, dependent on them completing the police academy.
Another audience member asked about how to prevent a child from joining a gang.
"Children join gangs because it's a social activity, because something is missing at home," said Carl. "The best thing to do is to talk to them."Marcos Contreras, co-chairman of MICAH, said gangs are a big concern for the Brazilian community and meetings last night with police are good for learning about gangs, as well as building trust with police."We're not just a little group," said Contreras. "It's important to look at immigrants as an organized group. Everyone here wants to live in a good Framingham."

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Bloody rivalry in Halifax played out between drug gangs

Bloody rivalry in Halifax between drug gangs that has seen shots ring out in front of a children's hospital and another hospital's emergency department forced into lockdown twice in two weeks.The police department says it has devoted unprecedented resources into investigating the series of incidents, which also involves shots fired at a pizza parlour in nearby Spryfield."We have seen violence in the drug trade before," said Const. Jeff Carr. "The difference this time is that they've brought their dispute into very public places, which is alarming."Police haven't said how many officers they've dedicated to a team trying to clamp down on two groups that have been waging a turf war in the suburban community of Spryfield for more than three years.It has been reported by local media outlets that the feud involves two families and associates implicated in a number of firebombings and shootings that have plagued the community of about 11,000 people since 2006.
Halifax Regional Police Chief Frank Beazley held a news conference on Nov. 19 to discuss the trouble and his department's response to it. Without naming the groups or individuals involved, he said the release of one man - Jimmy Melvin Jr., 26, - triggered the recent spate of violence that started with multiple shots fired outside the pizza shop in Spryfield and then outside the IWK Health Centre.
"That gentleman certainly has an influence on a group of people that are actively involved in criminal activity in our city," he said in reference to Melvin after his release from prison.Melvin Jr. was released Nov. 14 after spending time in prison while awaiting charges on robbery, assault and weapons offences.He was freed after witnesses changed their stories about a home invasion in 2007. Outside court, the Crown said it had to withdraw the charges because there was no chance of a conviction.Days later, his father, who served more than 10 years in prison on drug trafficking and assault convictions, was the target of multiple gunshots that tore through the pizza outlet on a busy street in the area.No one was hurt, but police say the incident signalled a renewal of hostilities between the groups vying for territory in the drug trade.The following day, another man was injured when multiple shots were fired in front of the IWK Health Centre, stunning people who had never seen the violence seep into such public places."It gives it a visibility that is quite singular," said Donald Clairmont, director of the Atlantic Institute of Criminology at Dalhousie University in Halifax."And some of these people can't shoot straight, so when they try to shoot the other guy they often imperil peaceful citizens. That makes it a very serious problem."Melvin was shot Thursday outside an apartment building in the area, but was taken to hospital with what were said to be non life-threatening injuries.Police were reportedly doing surveillance on Melvin at the time, but didn't witness the shooting. They later arrested four people at two locations after setting up a roadblock.On Friday night, police said three of the four men they had taken into custody as persons of interest in their investigation had been released without charges being laid. The fourth man has had his parole revoked.Hospital officials confirmed that Melvin was being treated there and that they had restricted access to the emergency department to ensure patient and physician safety.Coun. Stephen Adams, who represents the area, said people in the community are feeling a greater sense of unease as they watch the violence play out on their streets.He remembers the string of firebombings in 2006 that were reportedly sparked by the shooting death of a 21-year-old who was an alleged member of one of the rival gangs."It is spilling into areas that were generally taboo," Adams said Friday, adding that there has been a heavy, noticeable police presence in the community since the shooting outside the children's hospital."People see it as an internal issue, but of course it's got to be in the back of their minds that this is happening."Carr said police are monitoring people thought to be affiliated with the groups and are investigating the most recent incident to try to bring them before the courts. But he concedes they've had trouble in the past coaxing people to come forward and talk.#At the news conference last month, Beazley assured residents that the department is concentrating efforts on the case involving "two groups of individuals involved in the local drug trade.""The fact that they have brought their conflict into very public places is of great concern to us," he said.Still, Clairmont described the groups as middle to low-level drug gangs that don't maintain the same discreet profile of larger, well-organized criminal outfits."None of these guys are terribly successful.

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Two teenagers were fatally shot during a confrontation between street-gang members

Two teenagers were fatally shot during a confrontation between street-gang members and partygoers in the Valencia Park neighborhood here, police said.
Monique Palmer, 17, and Michael Taylor, 15, were at a party when gang members attempted to crash the event, San Diego Police Lt. Kevin Rooney said.The gang members displayed handguns and yelled gang challenges, Rooney said, before leaving. Shortly after midnight, Palmer, Taylor and several other partygoers were walking on the street when two young men confronted the group and began shooting, Rooney said.
Palmer was declared dead at the scene; Taylor died at a trauma center at 1:36 a.m.

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James "Whitey" Bulger, pulled out the victim's tongue and teeth and then tried to strangle the gun-runner, John McIntyre, with a ship's rope.

James "Whitey" Bulger, pulled out the victim's tongue and teeth and then tried to strangle the gun-runner, John McIntyre, with a ship's rope.The FBI man's complicity in this particular murder has never been proved but his betrayal of his badge – proved in two other cases – is one of the most shameful episodes in the agency's history. The macabre incident, worthy of a scene fromThe Sopranos, has nonetheless drawn attention to an extraordinary double standard in which the FBI allowed a notorious Irish-American gang to commit murder and mayhem in Boston for more than a decade, in return for information that would eventually break the back of the Mafia.Connolly's career would eventually inspire Martin Scorsese's 2006 movie, The Departed, in which the loyalties of an undercover agent become hopelessly compromised. The movie, like his career, is set in south Boston where the federal law enforcement agency is waging war on Irish-American organised crime. Connolly's character is played by Matt Damon.The long arm of the law has finally caught up with Connolly, now aged 68. He was convicted last month of a 1982 murder and has been called to court for sentencing. A decision is likely within weeks. In dramatic courtroom scenes this week, he angrily shouted out his innocence. His many supporters maintain that the FBI is at fault for encouraging him to turn a blind eye to crimes throughout the 1980s.

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15 lawmen charged with riding shotgun on ‘drug shipments’ in FBI sting

Duffel bags stuffed with cocaine were delivered by plane to an out-of-the-way suburban airport while two sheriff’s officers provided security. A police officer stood by to guard the cash and keep out the riffraff at a poker game where $100,000 changed hands. And a drug dealer was told squad cars marked “sheriff” and “sheriff’s police” might be available on a “freelance” basis to provide protection for his deliveries.Such tales of law enforcement gone awry emerged in court papers Tuesday as federal prosecutors unveiled a series of elaborate sting operations aimed at officers who hired out to ride shotgun for drug deals and other criminal activities.
15 lawmen charged with riding shotgun on ‘drug shipments’ in FBI sting
Feds Charge 15 Chicago Area Officers with Drug ConspiracyFifteen officers and two other men who had pretended to be law enforcement officers were charged with conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine or heroin or both.But the most spectacular pretending was done by the federal agents themselves.The pilots of the airplane were not drug runners but undercover agents. So were the gamblers who busily played hand after hand of high-stakes poker — all for show.
The drug broker who squired the officers to the airport to pick up the duffel bags was an agent. So was the drug dealer who stuffed the bags into his Mercedes-Benz.
U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said he was dismayed to find that so many law enforcement officers had “sold out their badge.”“When drug dealers deal drugs, they ought to be afraid of the police — not turn to them for help,” Fitzgerald said at a news conference.Officials paid homage to an unnamed FBI agent who moved into a business in Harvey more than a year ago and set up shop as a drug broker. He soon attracted the attention of police and the corruption grew, authorities said.They said the agent was sent in undercover because there had been reports of police corruption over the last several years in southern Cook County, including the Harvey police department. An investigation into allegations of robbery, extortion, narcotics offenses and weapons distribution is ongoing, officials said.
Those charged include 10 Cook County sheriff’s correctional officers, four Harvey police officers and one Chicago police officer.Of the 17 defendants, 14 were arrested or surrendered Tuesday and were being immediately brought before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason. Two sheriff’s officers are on active duty with Army National Guard units in Afghanistan, and warrants were issued for their arrest.
If convicted of conspiracy to possess and distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine or one kilogram of heroin, the defendants would face a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life. The maximum fine would be $4 million.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart called the alleged behavior “absolutely reprehensible.”
“The responsibility of watching over jail inmates is an important one and it’s a shame these men didn’t take that responsibility more seriously,” he said in a statement.Each of those charged has been suspended with pay pending a hearing next week, Dart said. “That step will then lead to a request for termination,” he said.

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Eugene “South Side Gene” Flores will plead guilty later this month to racketeering conspiracy

Member of the Texas Mexican Mafia signed a plea deal admitting to his role in the racketeering enterprise in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence. Eugene “South Side Gene” Flores will plead guilty later this month to racketeering conspiracy, including the killing of Jesse “Pelon” Guevara, who was found Aug. 7, 2004, on Senior Road in southwestern Bexar County.

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Ray Carrasco Texas Mexican Mafia member moved from a federal jail for his own safety

member of the Texas Mexican Mafia who admitted participating in two murders was moved from a federal jail for his own safety after a local television station erroneously reported that he was cooperating, authorities told a judge Wednesday.
Ray Carrasco was moved last month after KENS-TV posted a video report on mySA.com that talked about his plea deal but wrongly said he was cooperating with law officers, an FBI agent and a prosecutor said at Carrasco's plea hearing. “I can and will tell you he is not cooperating. Period,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joey Contreras told U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia. Contreras' assertion was a rare disclosure of the behind-the-scenes activity in high-profile prosecutions. Contreras said he normally never discusses whether any defendant is cooperating.An FBI agent told the judge that the station pulled the report off the Web site after agents saw the streaming video and contacted KENS. Carrasco was then moved.“At no point did we say this guy cooperated,” KENS news director Kurt Davis said in an interview Wednesday, challenging the agents' statements. “For the record, we were made aware that this guy was not cooperating with law enforcement. We reported that he had worked out a deal but was not cooperating.”KENS-TV is a partner with the Express-News in mySA.com until Jan. 5. The newspaper posted its own story on the Web site about the plea deal that made no mention of cooperation.Carrasco pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in racketeering activity, which included the killings of two fellow gang members (one suspected of cooperating with law officers), extortion and trafficking of heroin and cocaine. He agreed to be sentenced later to 20 years in prison. His lawyer, Warren Wolf, said Carrasco never had any plans to testify against any of the other 34 members charged in January with racketeering and 22 killings between 2000 and 2005.“His sole intention was to enter a plea on his own case,” Wolf said. “If that (cooperation) were part of the plea offer, he would not have accepted.”Carrasco asked the judge to be returned to San Antonio, but sources said that might not be possible because of lingering security concerns.“We'll advise the court on any security issues, but we can't comment on why we move someone, when or where,” said Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Fernando Karl, whose office oversees pretrial jailing of federal inmates.

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Prince killed

The police believe last night’s murder of Prince Lodge, 30 at Wild Street in Dunkirk, was gang related. The man, who lived on the neighbouring Maiden Street, was reportedly found with several bullet wounds in a yard shortly before 10 p.m. According to the police, a magazine loaded with 9 millimetre cartridges was found next to his body. The police say Lodge was released from prison after serving a gun related sentence sometime last year. However, they say he was not a person of interest at the time of his death.

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Former FBI agent John Connolly could get up to life in prison

Connolly could get up to life in prison when he is sentenced later Thursday. Prosecutors want the maximum while defense attorneys are asking for a term as short as 12 years. Former FBI agent John Connolly is looking at hard time in a Florida prison for the mob-related 1982 slaying of a Miami gambling executive.The 68-year-old Connolly was convicted last month of second-degree murder in the 1982 shooting death of jai-alai executive John Callahan.Prosecutors said Callahan was slain after Connolly told Boston mobsters that Callahan might implicate them in another murder.
Connolly was convicted by a federal jury in 2002 of racketeering and sentenced to 10 years for his corrupt relationships with chieftains of Boston's notorious Winter Hill Gang.

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Gangster Shaun Roberts recuperating from gunshot wounds suffered in a Chinatown shootout

Recuperating at Peter Lougheed since Nov. 16 from gunshot wounds suffered in a Chinatown shootout, Roberts went straight from hospital to the clink, facing charges of four counts of attempted murder and weapons charges. Two members of the police tactical unit kept a watchful eye as the gangster pearing in physical pain, one side of his face covered in bandages -- was whisked from the hospital's northeast exit to a waiting squad car. The TAC van escorted the cruiser for the trip to the downtown arrest processing unit, while two other tactical cops stood guard at the Lougheed's main entrance. The charges against Roberts stem from the same incident that left him hospitalized for the past two weeks. He was one of five gang members from rival groups shot and taken to hospital early on the morning of Nov. 16 after gunfire rang out between two vehicles in the 200 block of Centre St. S. The violence erupted little more than a week after Roberts testified at a hearing on behalf of gangland comrade Jackie Tran, who's been fighting deportation since 2004. The Nov. 16 gunplay rang out when an SUV drove up to another car and its occupants started firing at the smaller vehicle, said Acting Insp. Grant Miller of the Organized Crime Section. At the time, Miller said police were still trying to determine what transpired before the shots were fired but that it was the result of an ongoing dispute between the two groups. The SUV, which fled the scene afterwards, was later found in the northwest community of Citadel with four men inside, one of whom was suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Miller had said further charges were anticipated, and Roberts is now the fifth person arrested in connection with the incident.
Charged with four counts of attempted murder and causing bodily harm with intent are Marcel Landry, 25, Chantha Kim, 31, a 17-year-old male who can't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act and 23-year-old Daniel Landry -- the latter also an associate of Tran's.

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Alleged Long Island Boys gang member who authorities said peddled heroin in the Sherman Hills apartment complex and tortured a 15-year-old boy

Alleged gang member who authorities said peddled heroin in the Sherman Hills apartment complex and tortured a 15-year-old boy also wanted to kill the teen and informants, police say. Authorities claim in arrest records that Daniel “Max” Davenport, 24, of West Hempstead, N.Y., while jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, attempted to have the teen boy “eliminated.” Davenport also was trying to get released from jail last month and “track down all confidential informants in the cases against him and kill them,” arrest records say. Davenport was charged by Wilkes-Barre police on two counts of intimidation of witnesses. He was arraigned late Monday afternoon by District Judge Diana Malast in Plains Township and remanded to jail for lack of $250,000 bail. Davenport has been jailed at the county correctional facility for lack of $75,000 bail since Nov. 19 on separate charges he tortured the teen boy and drug offenses, according to court records. Authorities said the teen boy is in protective custody. Davenport was among 13 people that the state Office of Attorney General said belonged to the Long Island Boys gang that distributed a large amount of heroin in Sherman Hills from December to October, according to court and arrest records. Attorney General Tom Corbett said in October that the Long Island gang sold 3,000 to 5,000 heroin packets a week with an estimated street value of $60,000 to $100,000. Troopers with the state police, Wyoming, Vice and Narcotics Unit captured Davenport on Nov. 18 when he was found hiding inside a Hazle Avenue, Wilkes-Barre, home. Wilkes-Barre police allege Davenport was one of three men who tortured the teen boy, who was recruited by the gang to sell heroin and collect money from customers in Sherman Hills, according to arrest records. Police suspect Davenport, Rufus “Roo” Evans, 22, and Edward “E” Enriquez, 21, tortured the teen because they blamed him for stealing a safe. Evans lured the boy to a home on North Meade Street, Wilkes-Barre, at about 3 a.m. on Aug. 9, according to arrest records. Police said the boy was tied to a chair and was repeatedly assaulted by Davenport, Evans and Enriquez. The boy was cut with scissors and knives that were heated over an open flame, and cleaning solvents were poured on the boy’s wounds to increase pain, arrest records said. The teen told authorities that Davenport and Evans talked about killing him and discussed how they would dispose of the body. Police found the boy in a bathtub inside the home. He was treated and released from Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Plains Township. Davenport and Evans are scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Central Court on Dec. 12 on drug offenses and the alleged torture charges

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Barrio Azteca prison gang RICO, was used to prosecute six leaders and associates

Carlos "Shotgun" Perea, Manuel "Tolon" Cardoza, Benjamin "T-Top" Alvarez, Eugene "Gino" Mona, and Said "Shorty" Herrera face life sentences for their convictions of violations of the RICO statute.
Federal law created to bring down the Mafia in 1970 now has been used to lock up leaders of a powerful El Paso-based prison gang after a month-long trial that ended Tuesday with several convictions.
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, was used to prosecute six leaders and associates of the Barrio Azteca prison gang. A jury in U.S. District Court found the men guilty of most of the crimes they were charged with.Sentencing for the gang leaders, who face up to life in federal prison, is set for Feb. 24.Law enforcement officials said gangs are the perfect example of organized crime, particularly when the gangs have leadership structures rules, and plan and commit crimes."RICO isn't used that often, but it's been very effective when it has," national gang expert Robert Walker said in a telephone interview from South Carolina. "They are an organization. It doesn't say it has to be the Mafia."
Walker worked in law enforcement for more than 50 years, including as a special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. He is a private consultant and has been an expert witness in trials involving gang members in several states. He also consulted in a federal RICO gang-related trial in Virginia.Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Luis Acosta tried to show the jury during the Barrio Azteca trial an organized militarylike structure among the gang with ranks of soldiers, sergeants, lieutenants and captains, as well as a thorough system for investigating prospective members and others.
The gang was known to communicate their orders through elaborately coded letters sent into and outside the prison system using "bridge" addresses to other gang members.Witnesses testified that gang members used threats and intimidation to further their efforts.Prison no deterrentCaptains issued orders from inside and outside prisons for criminal activities that took place in jails, prisons and cities.
Several of those on trial were behind bars when their crimes occurred.Acosta also called on witnesses to describe written rules they were shown at the time they became members.Among the charges the gang members were found guilty of were engaging in the affairs of an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, conspiracy to conduct the affairs of an activity through a pattern of racketeering activity, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and conspiracy to possess heroin, cocaine and marijuana with intent to distribute.Arturo "Tury" Enriquez faces 20 years in federal prison for a conviction of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by threats or violence. He was acquitted of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering.Though RICO is effective in convicting gang leaders, Walker said, it's unlikely to stop gang activity."If you take a leader and put him in jail, what's going to happen? They're going to look for a new leader on the street," Walker said.
But Mary Lou Carrillo, who dealt with Aztecas on the streets before retiring last year as a sergeant with an El Paso police gang unit, was hopeful the convictions Tuesday would affect gang activity in the city."These are guys we have been working on for years, since the early days of the gang unit," she said. "I think this has already impacted the street gangs quite a bit because they are turning on each other."Before the trial, nine other defendants pleaded guilty to various charges.Many of those who pleaded guilty testified for the prosecution at the trial and were ex-gang members who made deals to lessen or avoid charges."This tends to create a lot of enemies of those who are testifying," Walker said. "They may have reprisals taken out against them at some point."Barrio Azteca often recruits prospects from El Paso street-gang members who are serving time in prison. Barrio Azteca is believed to have about 3,000 members across the Southwest and Mexico.
Carrillo, who tracked the gang for many years, said treating gangs like the organized-crime structures they are is a sure way to damage them."If you start working gangs on an individual basis, you're never going to go anywhere," Carrillo said. "RICO is the way to go, and it's going to require all agencies working together."The Barrio Azteca case included cooperation from multiple law enforcement agencies. The five-year investigation was led by the FBI with assistance from the El Paso Police Department, the district attorney's office, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Texas Department of Public Safety."The FBI, along with all of our law enforcement partners, will continue to pursue the leadership of organized criminal enterprises, such as violent street gangs, and use all available investigative and prosecutive means to disrupt their activities," FBI Special Agent in Charge David Cuthbertson said in a statement.Carrillo said she hopes law enforcement agencies will continue to work together to prosecute gangs."The key is not to stop," she said. "Many agencies throughout the country start seeing violence drop because of successful investigations such as this, and they start depleting gangs, but you really need to keep your thumb on them at all times. "You've got to cut the head off the snake and work it from the top, which is from the prison system," Carrillo said.
While increased attention against gangs may help limit their criminal activity, Walker said, the problem of gangs is unlikely to disappear in large cities."Gangs are like a cancer. They will continue to grow and grow and grow," Walker said.
He said that even if leaders are convicted, they are not likely to stop calling the shots on the streets from prison.Alvarez and Perea were convicted for crimes they committed while serving 15-year sentences in federal prison for a previous RICO conviction."You take the leaders of the Barrio Azteca and lock them up, and say they're locked up for life, they will continue to run the Barrio Azteca," Walker said before the verdict. "They're going to deal in narcotics, hurt people, kill people. They will do the same things now they were doing before they were convicted, if in fact they are convicted."

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Gypsy Joker shot three times while riding a motorbike with a female passenger

Gypsy Joker was shot three times while riding a motorbike with a female passenger in Sydney's west last night.It was one of an alarming spate of firearms incidents across Sydney in the last 24 hours, including a youth being charged over a house shoot-up and man being "accidentally" blasted by a companion.
And on Saturday, a man was shot in the head when a car was riddled with bullets at Seven Hills. But new statistics show Aussies are more likely to be stabbed than shot to death.Just before midnight, there were reports of gunfire on the Great Western Highway, Wentworthville, near Mays Hill.A Harley Davidson motorcycle was travelling east along the highway with a pillion passenger, when a dark coloured sedan fired a number of shots at the motorcycle.The male driver was shot three times, twice in the arm and once in the chest.His female passenger was not hit by the shots, but both were taken to Westmead hospital.Their injuries aren't life threatening.
The Harley Davidson had a sticker which read "Respect your local Gypsy Joker" on its side, referring to the notorious bikie gang.Three of the four eastbound lanes were closed up until 5am this morning, as police established a crime scene.

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Leon Wiley member of Oakland's so-called "Nut Case" gang will spend the rest of his life in prison

member of Oakland's so-called "Nut Case" gang will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murders of three people during the gang's 2003 killing spree.
Thirty-year-old Leon Wiley laughed and shouted his allegiance to the gang during his sentencing Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court. Wiley was one of eight gang members who were arrested following the six-week crime spree that included five killings of strangers and numerous robberies. He was convicted in September of murdering 21-year-old Tracy Easterling and directing other gang members to kill 14-year-old Keith Maki-Harris and 24-year-old Jerry Duckworth. A jury also found him guilty of two counts of attempted murder and other felonies. The gang got its name because members allegedly killed for thrills.

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John A. "Junior" Gotti indictment brought against Gotti in Tampa features the same racketeering conspiracy charge

Florida judge ordered the latest prosecution of John A. "Junior" Gotti returned to Manhattan, finding that the government left the "unmistakeable and disquieting impression" it had shopped for a trial location where it might finally win.U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday said Tuesday that an indictment brought against Gotti in Tampa features the same racketeering conspiracy charge that had failed to result in a conviction after three trials in Manhattan.He said Gotti's notoriety, his apparently acknowledged role in organized crime before he announced he had left the life behind and the frustration prosecutors feel after repeated losses "contribute to the temptation to extend to Florida the 'quest' to convict Gotti."Merryday added that the U.S. attorney in Florida "oddly" chose to charge a crime of RICO conspiracy that allegedly occurred largely outside that state."In this context, the charging decision of the United States, apparently unaccountable on neutral principles, creates the unmistakeable and disquieting impression of 'forum shopping,'" the judge said.Gotti was charged last year with crimes involving three gangland slayings. He has denied wrongdoing.A spokesman for federal prosecutors in Florida did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment. Yusill Scribner, a spokeswoman for prosecutors in New York, said her office had no comment.Charles Carnesi, Gotti's New York lawyer, said the tone of the ruling made it seem the judge believed the decision to prosecute in Florida "was just a strategic move to try to deprive him of his ability to put forth his defense."He said he would probably seek bail in Florida so Gotti could return to New York out of custody."I'm looking forward to having him home for Christmas," Carnesi said.Three juries in Manhattan have deadlocked on charges against Gotti. His lawyers asserted in his defense that he had quit the Gambino family by July 1999, protecting him from charges because the statute of limitations — five years for racketeering charges — would have expired.
Prosecutors have said Gotti assumed control of the powerful Gambino family after his father's 1992 conviction on racketeering and murder charges. His father died in prison in 2002.

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Top-6 criminal gang were convicted tonight by a Palm Beach County jury

Two members of the Top-6 criminal gang were convicted tonight by a Palm Beach County jury on criminal charges of racketeering, and one of the defendants was also convicted of numerous other criminal charges. The two men are among 12 who were arrested earlier this year during a coordinated operation by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw’s Office, and the Police Departments for Lantana and Boynton Beach.The jury returned guilty verdicts against Jessee Thomas, 22, for criminal racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, possession of marijuana with intent to sell, two counts of possession of paraphernalia, resisting without violence, and possessing forged notes, bills, checks, or drafts.Thomas, also known as “Black” or "Blackman," faces up to 77 years in prison when sentenced next week. Also convicted was Ernest Exavier, 25, of criminal racketeering. Exavier, also known as “Shotgun,” faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced, also next week.
The two men, both of Lake Worth, were indicted by the 18th Statewide Grand Jury in June.The Top-6 gang is a violent Haitian group that has been connected to a number of murders, both as assailants and victims. The specific charges against these men related to sales of narcotics, violent crime, and gun charges including possession of firearms as convicted felons and possession of firearms with altered or removed serial numbers.The case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution in the 15th Judicial Circuit and Judge Karen Miller presided over the case. The remaining gang members are set for trial at a date in the future.

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Gang rapes and robberies targeting brothels in East London

Ibrahim Gunduz has been given 14 years, Imani Williams 19 years and Andre Victor 20 years for the raids in which at least three women were gang-raped and 13 were violently robbed
Gang rapes and robberies targeting brothels in East London in a six-week reign of terror have been jailed for a total of 54 years.Gunduz, who was 17 at the time, and accomplices Williams and Victor, who were both 20, targeted six brothels in Dalston, Walthamstow, Leyton, Leytonstone and Forest Gate. Two women were gang-raped at premises in Leytonstone High Road, three were robbed and one subjected to oral rape at a second premises nearby, two were robbed and one gang-raped at Romford Road, Forest Gate, two were robbed at gunpoint at Hoe Street, Walthamstow, and another robbed in Shacklewell Lane, Dalston.The gang pretended to be customers to get into the premises. Gunduz posed with a crutch to give the impression had a limp to get in through the buzzer system, then held the door open for Williams and Victor.They were caught through DNA on a cigarette butt left by Gunduz, semen left by Victor and Williams and fingerprints from Gunduz and Williams left in the raids last January and February. Det Ins Larry Smith, who led the hunt for the gang, said: “We have taken three violent young men off the streets who acted like kids in a candy shop.
“They thought they could take what they liked, no doubt thinking they would get away with it targeting prostitutes who may have been reluctant to go to police.”Victor, from Hackney’s Fawcett Estate, was found guilty at Snaresbrook crown court of seven rapes in the raids last January and February and admitted charges of robbery.
Gunduz, also from the Fawcett estate, admitted rape, robbery and ABH.Williams, from Hackney, admitted four robbery charges and was found guilty of ABH and two rapes.

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Wythenshawe's Newall Green Crew gang were sentenced to a total of 24 years in jail after pleading guilty to numerous offences, including armed robbery

The five members of Wythenshawe's Newall Green Crew gang were sentenced to a total of 24 years in jail after pleading guilty to numerous offences, including armed robbery and burglary. They targeted homes with high-powered cars parked outside during an eight-month crime spree. After threatening, beating and robbing the homeowners, they would then use the cars for other crimes, mostly robberies.
The cars stolen included a Subaru Impreza, which was shown speeding around the Wythenshawe estate and pulling 'doughnuts' in a video posted on Youtube by one gang member. Also stolen between May 2007 and January this year by the gang were an Audi A4, Audi A3, a VW Golf and Seat Leon. Detective Constable Stephen Philips said: "These five men are repeat offenders who have shown a complete disregard for the law. "Between them they have targeted and terrified completely innocent members of the public. "Thanks to a lot of hard work by officers at the burglary unit we were able to identify the offenders as key players in a gang who prided themselves on their criminal background. "I am pleased they are all now starting considerable prison sentences. The streets will certainly be safer with them behind bars."
The gang were sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on Friday (28/11/08).
Michael O'Reilly, 20, of Barnwood Road, Newall Green, pleaded guilty to two counts of armed robbery and one count of burglary. He was jailed for seven years.
Jonathan Charles Costello, 22, of Foxlair Road, Poundswick, pleaded guilty to four counts of burglary at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to five years.
Matthew Sam Hackland, 21, of Greenbrow Road, Newall Green, pleaded guilty to three counts of burglary at an earlier hearing and has been sentenced to four years.
Derek Cotterill, 23, of St George's Court, Eccles, Salford, admitted two counts of burglary at an earlier hearing. He was jailed for three years.
Damien Lee Dean, 24, of Kennett Road, Newall Green pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary and handling stolen goods at an earlier hearing and was sentenced to five years. Along with the five gang members, Paul Costello, 20, of Old Moat Lane, Withington, admitted handling stolen goods and going equipped for burglary at an earlier hearing and was jailed for nine months.

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Gangster Gordon Horsfall aimed a shotgun at a terrified passer-by in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow

Gordon Horsfall, 28, phoned an associate to deliver the gun and bullet-proof vest after a row at a busy nightclub on Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. Two people were hurt as he opened fire. He is now starting a six-year jail term as well as facing extradition to Spain over a stabbing.Gordon Horsfall phoned an accomplice to deliver the gun and a bulletproof vest after a confrontation with two men inside the club. The gun and vest were delivered by taxi before he opened fire at random. One women passer-by was injured by a ricochet and was only saved from serious injury because the shot bounced off her necklace. Horsfall, 28, then turned to doorman Anthony Nyangweso and shot him through the hand before fleeing in a taxi. Last night, Horsfall was behind bars after being sentenced to nearly six years in prison for the cowardly attack. He went on the run after the shooting and was captured in July when armed police posing as postmen raided an exclusive block of flats in Glasgow's west end. He faces extradition to Spain after being accused of a vicious knife attack on a man in Tenerife. It is understood he fled to a bolthole on the holiday island after the shooting in July 2004 but returned to Scotland early this year to look after "business" interests. CCTV pictures show Horsfall - wearing the bulletproof vest - arriving back outside Blanket nightclub in Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow. He phoned a friend and got him to deliver the gun and vest in a taxi. Terrified clubbers, who have spotted the weapon, run from the scene in panic. Next, the gun-toting gangster appears to be scouring the street, trying to identify a target.
He is shown shooting into the crowd of people around the club entrance before turning to flee. He then opens the door of a waiting taxi before jumping in and making his escape. The operation followed several weeks of surveillance on Horsfall, who officers said had "holed up" and rarely left the flat after returning from abroad. At the High Court in Glasgow, Horsfall admitted assault and reckless and culpable discharge of a shotgun outside Blanket, now renamed The Classrooms. He had been at the club with two Asian friends and, in a row with another group of Asian men, he was told he was going to be shot, prompting him to make the call for a gun.
The court was told he collected the items around 3.30am then opened fire on the group outside the club - firing around four times.

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