Rick Freeman 23-year-old Beloit man is sentenced to life in prison

Rick Freeman 23-year-old Beloit man is sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty by a jury of a 2005 gang-related shooting death.
According to the Rock County District Attorney's office, Judge James Daley also sentenced Rick Freeman to five years in prison followed by five years extended supervision for three counts of second degree reckless endangerment. Those charges stem from an incident in 2007 where Freeman attempted to elude a Beloit police officer and collided with another car. Freeman is sentenced to an additional ten years in prison followed by five years supervision for his conviction of possession with intent to deliver cocaine. That was a second offense and within 1,000 feet of a school.As a result of these cases, Freeman will be eligible for parole in 45 years.

Read More

Seattle's gang feuds two 16-year-old boys were shot in the back, including one who had been involved in a gang intervention and prevention program.

Two 16-year-old boys were shot in the back, including one who had been involved in a gang intervention and prevention program. The shooter hasn't been caught.Seattle's gang feuds have been heated for more than a year. Seattle police are preparing new measures to quell the violence, and have formed communication channels to try to prevent retaliations shootings.Last month, the department started a day-shift gang squad. Interim Police Chief John Diaz told Seattlepi.com that some of the resource officers added this year to Seattle schools will transition to working in the precincts this summer.Though he didn't give specifics, Diaz also said the department also has been setting money aside for overtime preparing for summer focus areas in each precinct -- something done in response to the gang issue."We definitely have to have more on those Friday and Saturday nights, but … throughout the week we want to make consistent that we have ongoing emphasis in different areas," he said. "Once school's out, you're going to have to make sure that you're staying on top of it.
Though police didn't discuss what prompted Tuesday's shooting, signs show possible links to previous incidents.On Friday, one man was wounded in what police called a gang-related shooting near Alki Beach. Last month, charges were filed in two alleged gang-retaliation shootings that left one dead and two wounded."This winter, they kept on going in between snowstorms and there are still a lot of kids out there with guns, unfortunately," said Gabe Morales, a local gang expert who works with police and at-risk youths. "This is not anything new, it's ongoing."The new measures by Seattle police are intended to prevent a repeat of last year, in which officers linked nine of 28 Seattle homicides to gang violence. Officers said all four juvenile homicides in the city were gang-related.Nearly four hours after Tuesday's double shooting on Rainier Avenue South, a 19-year-old man was caught with a handgun about 10 blocks from the shooting scene as he was walking with a witness to the incident.He allegedly told police his "brother had been shot earlier" and that he was "going to the hospital," according to a police report. Police said the young man had purchased the gun earlier that day for $120.He was arrested and booked into King County Jail after also being caught with what police suspected was crack cocaine and Ecstasy. The teen, who has multiple guilty pleas as a juvenile, told police he was convicted of a juvenile felony. He was last booked into King County Jail in October for illegal gun possession, a violation of his juvenile parole.
The man "claims South End" and associated with known Crips gang members, according to the report. He remained in King County Jail on Thursday and is expected to be charged Friday.However, he has a different last name from the two teens shot in the back early Tuesday evening, and police spokeswoman Renee Witt could not confirm if his brother was one of the victims.Evidence of a South Seattle feud with Central District gangs is widespread, even showing up last month as graffiti in the Douglass-Truth Branch of the Seattle Public Library.
On April 14, police said five members of the Deuce Eights -- a main Central District gang -- were involved in a drive-by shooting on Rainier Avenue South that was said to be retaliation for a shooting early that day in the Central District.A 21-year-old and a 24-year-old man were in front of an apartment in the 7400 block of Rainier Avenue South when one of the alleged Deuce Eights -- who has a felony conviction for unlawful firearm possession -- opened fire on the men, including one who he thought shot at him earlier that day. The 21-year-old suffered a non-fatal wound to his biceps.The alleged shooter, 16-year-old Cleden Theend Jimerson, and the alleged driver, Alias Lasean Grihm, have been charged in Superior Court with first-degree assault. A 14-year-old who police say was in the car was charged as a juvenile with illegal gun possession.Eight days later on the same block, police responded to gunfire outside the apartment of the 24-year-old who the shooters missed.
Police identified him as a member of the 74 Hoover Criminals, a South Seattle division of the Crips gang that is battling the Deuce Eights.Police speculated the shooter, who was not caught, was aiming at the man's residence. The alleged target said little to police, other than that he wasn't a victim that night.On Friday, the 19-year-old shot Friday night near Alki Beach was identified by Gang Unit detectives as belonging to the Holly Park Crips, a group allied with South Seattle gangs, including the 74 Hoover Criminals. Police did not comment Wednesday on whether that shooting was connected to the most recent Rainier Avenue incidents.Also on Tuesday, the Seattle Police Gang Unit responded to a report of shots fired in the Central District. In that case, which appears to be unrelated to the Rainier Avenue incidents, a man was fired upon after an alleged crack deal went bad.
Gang detectives learned the shooter's street name and determined he is associated with a main Central District Gang, the Valley Hood Pirus, according to police.
A problem with mapping gang connections is the changeing allegiances and feuds. Members from gangs who are allies one month could have a problem the following month, Morales said."What we've noticed is that the groups are very dynamic," Tukwila police spokesman Mike Murphy said. "Loyalties change and affiliations changed. It's very hard to predict."Officers say communication between agencies is crucial to a reducing violent gang crime, and has been shown to prevent attacks.
After what police said was a gang-related shooting at the Garfield Community Center in December, police agencies in King County were told to be on the lookout for a suspect with ties to a notorious South Seattle gang.Seattle officers also were advised to stay on the alert for suspicious gang activity due to the increased possibility of retaliation from Central District gang members.The Garfield incident has not been linked to the Hoovers. But Seattle police said communication that night likely prevented a potentially violent situation.Three hours after the December shooting, a Seattle officer recognized six known members of the 74 Hoover Criminals near Rainier Avenue South and South Cloverdale Street -- a stronghold for South End gangs.Police said one of the suspected members, a felon, was found with a loaded .32-caliber revolver in his waistband. The pistol was wrapped in an orange bandanna -- a color used by the street gang."Criminals don't recognize political boundaries," King County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said. "We're basically involved in sharing information and occasionally have joint patrols that are very critical."On April 7, less than two hours after a 21-year-old man was shot while working on a car near his South Seattle home April 7, three men approached a Cadillac at South 188th Street and International Boulevard in SeaTac and sprayed the car with at least 20 bullets, according to police.One of the four men arrested allegedly told police the shooting was retaliation for the previous attack. One man died, another was wounded."That's a good example of sharing information," Urquhart said, adding deputies were alerted that afternoon by Seattle police. "Just putting our heads together helped us in both investigations."The four Seattle men suspected in the Sea-Tac shooting were charged with first-degree murder. No suspects have been publically identified in the earlier attack.The communication helps track gang members who can adjust territories within days, police say. Twice a month, Tukwila police have meetings with the Seattle police gang unit -- something also done with other agencies."Years ago we didn't have that and we didn't know what was going on in the next city," Murphy said. "Working collaboratively we've been identifying people, identifying networks."

Read More

Damario Dilliard member of the Deuce 8 street gang faces a sentence of between 24 ¾ and 33 years in prison

convicted a 20-year-old man of murder and assault for leading an ambush against rival gang members outside a Rainier Valley apartment building two years ago that left a young man dead and at least two others wounded.The jury had deliberated since Monday afternoon before finding Damario Dilliard guilty of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree assault.He faces a sentence of between 24 ¾ and 33 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set.Dilliard was arrested several months after the Aug. 28, 2007, attack that killed 19-year-old Antwan Horton and wounded Henry Harris and Kevin Rogers.
Dilliard was a member of the Deuce 8 street gang, while the victims were members of the Low Profile, or LP, gang, according to court documents in Dilliard's case.
At the time of the shootings, the gangs were involved in a bitter and violent feud stemming from the slaying of a founding member of the Deuce 8 gang, allegedly by a member of the LPs, according to documents.The night of the shooting, Dilliard and some of his friends were visiting a woman at the Dakota Apartments on 33rd Avenue South. According to prosecutors, Dilliard was drinking heavily and playing with a pistol when the woman got a call that Horton, Harris and Rogers were going to stop by.The woman told Dilliard and his friends to stay in a bedroom while the LP gang members were over, but Dilliard became agitated by their presence, according to prosecutors. One of his friends called other Deuce 8s to come to the apartment, saying Dilliard was "trapped" inside with LP members.When the others arrived, Dilliard joined them outside, prosecutors said. When the LP members left the apartment, the group opened fire on them. Horton was killed instantly and Harris and Rogers were hit in the legs but managed to escape.Prosecutors say DNA recovered from a pistol left at the scene matched Dilliard's. He was arrested the following January while attending the funeral for 17-year-old Allen Joplin, who was gunned down at a party in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood. Prosecutors say Joplin was a fellow Deuce 8.Joplin's killers are still at large.

Read More

Antoine Ahiem, described as a member of the Double ii set of the Bloods street gang, was charged

Antoine Ahiem, 23, of Millville, was arrested along with township residents Ozell Sutton, 26, and Angel Fontanez, 18, police said.Member of the Bloods street gang was charged with numerous drug and weapon offenses Wednesday night after a fight in the Sunbury Village section of town.Officers responded at 8:15 p.m. to a report of a fight on Kinsley Road involving several men with weapons. Several people fled when police arrived, including Ahiem, Sutton and Fontanez. The three men were taken into custody a short time later inside a nearby home they had broken into in order to hide, police said.Further investigation led to the recovery of a backpack that Ahiem is alleged to have placed in a rear shed before hiding inside the home with the other two suspects. The backpack contained a 9mm handgun loaded with hollow-point ammunition, additional rounds of conventional ammunition, a digital scale, Ahiem's driver's license and 45 bags of crack cocaine, police said.The gun was determined to have been stolen in 2008 from a township resident's home. Police said Ahiem is believed to have brandished the weapon during the fight but did not fire it.
No serious injuries were reported from the fight. The cause of the altercation and the number of people involved were not released.
Police said Ahiem, whom they described as a member of the Double ii set of the Bloods street gang, was charged with drug possession, drug possession with the intent to distribute, unlawful possession of a handgun, possession of a handgun while distributing drugs, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, possession of prohibited ammunition, receiving stolen property, burglary and possession of drug paraphernalia. He initially was lodged in Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly on $150,000 bail.During Ahiem's first appearance in Superior Court on Thursday, Judge Cornelius Sullivan reduced his bail to $100,000 cash, authorities said.Sutton and Fontanez were charged with burglary and lodged in Burlington County Jail on $35,000 bail apiece, police said.No charges were filed related to the fight. Police said an investigation into the altercation is ongoing.Court records showed that Ahiem also was charged with multiple drug and weapon offenses in August stemming from a drug raid at the Browns Woods Apartments complex on Trenton Road. During the raid, police confiscated a stolen handgun, cash, several bags of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, illegal ammunition and various items of gang paraphernalia.That case is still awaiting trial in Superior Court.

Read More

Texas Born Hustlers arrested

Big Spring Police have arrested two people they say are known gang members. The Big Spring Narcotics Unit executed a seach warrant at 805 Lorilla on Sunday. Police say two firearms, a bullet proff vest and ammunition were seized. 17-year-old Tristan Ward and 19-year-old Edrion Houston were both arrested and charged with Felon in Possession of a fire arm and body armoor. Both Houston and Ward are known associates of the street gang the Texas Born Hustlers.

Read More

MS-13 gang member Victor Ramirez sentenced to 60 years in prison

Victor Ramirez of Hyattsville and a native of El Salvador was convicted in November after a monthlong trial. The racketeering enterprise activities included three murders.U.S. District judge has sentenced a MS-13 gang member to 60 years in prison for conspiring to take part in racketeering enterprise activities.
Witnesses testified that Ramirez, 30, entered the U.S. from El Salvador through Mexico, and that he had arrived in Maryland with another gang member. Ramirez and an MS-13 leader from El Salvador told witnesses that Ramirez had been sent to Maryland to strengthen the gang in the state. Prosecutors say Ramirez and other gang members killed shot and killed two rival gang members in October 2005, and Ramirez provided a handgun that was used in the slaying of another man later that month.

Read More

Pedro Gil, 37, also was known as “Master P” and “Carwash” with the Hermandad de Pistoleros Latinos (Brotherhood of Latin Gunmen) must serve 25 years

Pedro Gil, 37, also must forfeit millions of dollars in real estate, a cache of jewelry, a fleet of luxury vehicles, and suitcases containing $4.5 million in cash.Laredo gang leader must serve 25 years in prison under the terms of a plea agreement, federal prosecutors said Thursday.Pedro Gil, 37, also was known as “Master P” and “Carwash” with the Hermandad de Pistoleros Latinos (Brotherhood of Latin Gunmen).Gil was indicted in May 2008 along with 23 members or associates of the gang. Prosecutors said the gang smuggled large amounts of cocaine across the Mexican border, then stored it in Laredo stash houses for distribution out of Houston.He pleaded guilty in Houston to trafficking more than 330 pounds of cocaine and laundering millions of dollars in proceeds.

Read More

Raymond Campos, 29, was arrested

Raymond Campos, 29, was arrested. Police said that the Salinas gang member backed over a member of the Monterey County Gang Task Force with his car back on April 10th of this year. Campos was lodged in the Monterey County Jail on numerous charges including attempted murder. No further information available at this time pending a press conference to be held by Chief Fetherolf; date and time to be announced.

Read More

Anthony Parish D-Boys street gang 40 years in prison

known gang member whom authorities have tied to four shootings was sentenced today for attempted murder.Judge Fran Gull, in Allen Superior Court, sentenced Anthony Parish to a total of 40 years in prison, the result of the Oct. 1 shooting of Andrea L. Terrell as the man sat in a car driven by Patrick Long.Parish, 19, a member of the D-Boys street gang, said in court previously that he was actually gunning for Long when he pulled up alongside the two and opened fire at the intersection of Hessen Cassel Road and Maple Grove Avenue. Parish missed and instead seriously injured Terrell.
Terrell recovered from his injuries.Parish submitted a guilty plea for the crime April 6, resulting in charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery and the dropping of additional charges of battery, criminal recklessness, carrying a pistol without a permit and pointing a gun.Parish got 30 years for the attempted murder and 10 years for the aggravated battery, to be served consecutively.
Today's sentencing was just the beginning of Parish's worries. He has a murder trial scheduled to begin June 23 over the fatal shooting of Antoine J. Woods, 30, whom he is accused of gunning down Aug. 24 outside the Dove Shack Bar on Lumbard Street.Parish also has another attempted murder trial for the shooting of city resident Dennis Salley in August in the 400 block of East Suttenfield Street that will begin July 14.Parish is already serving a 1 1/2 -year sentence after being convicted of criminal recklessness and criminal mischief after he fired two shots into the car of a newspaper carrier near the intersection of Milton Street and South Park Drive in June.Parish was arrested Oct. 10 after a standoff with police in which he barricaded himself in an apartment.

Read More

Billy Ly and Danny Ngoc Nguyen "kill kits" of weaponry and body armour charged with more than 50 weapons-related offences

Two reputed gangsters arrested with so-called "kill kits" of weaponry and body armour, won't learn until next week whether he'll be free pending trial.Provincial court Judge Les Grieve yesterday reserved his decision on an application to release Danny Ngoc Nguyen on bail. Grieve imposed a publication ban on submissions during the lengthy hearing at the request of defence lawyer John James. James is seeking the same freedom for Nguyen as his co-accused received more than a week ago, when Billy Ly was released on $15,000 cash, or a $25,000 surety. Both Ly and Nguyen were arrested April 1, when police, responding to an unrelated complaint of armed teens in Carburn Park in the Riverbend area, saw a group of five men sprint into a nearby yard. In a silver GMC Safari van, police found a cache of weapons -- including an HK assault rifle and four sets of body armour -- and five sets of clothing changes, including sneakers, track pants, hoodies bandanas and gloves.
At the time police Insp. Richard Hinse said the weapons were "all fully loaded," some in plain view.
Ly, 24, and Nguyen, 22, were charged with more than 50 weapons-related offences, while the other three have been released pending further investigation.

Nguyen remains at the Calgary Remand Centre pending Grieve's ruling.

Read More

"shoot some Stones," referring to members of a South Side street gang,Witnesses said they saw Ward fire multiple times in Love's direction

Two men were held without bond today after being charged with fatally shooting a teen and wounding two other men in the Austin neighborhood.

The two had shot and killed Damier Love, 16, Thursday as part of a plan to target members of a rival gang operating in the neighborhood, a prosecutor said today.Cortez Powell, 25, of the 700 block of North Lockwood Avenue, and Brian Ward, 22, of the 9500 block of Maple Drive in Rosemont, were each charged with one count of first degree murder and two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, according to a police news release.Powell also was charged with one count of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm. The two were ordered held without bond today by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Jackie Marie Portman.Love and two men ages 45 and 53 were standing in front of a liquor store in the 5300 block of West Chicago Avenue around 12:45 a.m. Thursday, when Ward, Powell and a third man who has not been charged approached the store and began firing, said Asst. State's Atty. Emily Stevens at today's bond hearing.Witnesses said they saw Ward fire multiple times in Love's direction, and when the teen fell to the ground, Ward stood over the victim and continued firing, Stevens said. Love, of the 4800 block of West Hubbard Street, was dead on the scene, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.
The 45-year-old man was shot in the hip and remains in Stroger Hospital after having been stabilized, while the 53-year-old was treated and released for a gunshot wound to the thigh, she said.
Love did not know the two men injured in the shooting, Stevens said. Love apparently was the only target, Police Officer David Banks said earlier this week.After the shooting, Ward, Powell and the other man fled the scene, and Powell was apprehended a short time later by police officers.
Under questioning, Powell said he had met up with Ward and the third man knowing that they were going to "shoot some Stones," referring to members of a South Side street gang, Stevens said. Powell told police he and the other two men were armed, and he fired his gun into the air during the incident.After police apprehended Ward, he told police that he had fired his gun at one of the injured men, Stevens said. Both Ward and Powell were also wearing latex gloves during the incident.Both men had several prior felony charges, Stevens said.Love was a Chicago Public Schools student who was enrolled at Marshall High School, said Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman Monique Bond. She did not know what grade Love was in. Love is the 34th district student killed this year.

Read More

Spearman member of the Bloods-affiliated 4-2 Pirus convicted

Darrius Eugene Spearman who took the stand Wednesday, claimed he was acting in self-defense when 19-year-old Marcus "Fish" Allen was shot on the dance floor at Tiffany's, a Port Arthur club located at Houston Avenue and 10th Street. The Nov. 25, 2007, shooting occurred as rap music filled with the sound of gunshots played in the background.Spearman and Allen were members of rival street gangs and their mutual hatred was part of what motivated the murder, Jefferson County prosecutor Ramon Rodriguez told jurors in his closing. In support of his contention, he noted that when asked by defense attorney James Makin to write the names of the two gangs on a dry-erase board, Spearman switched from red to blue.
"Without anyone asking him, (when) asked about the Crips he writes it in blue," Rodriguez said in his closing. "That's the mindset. I'm red, he blue. We're red. Them other people- they blue."
Spearman, a member of the Bloods-affiliated 4-2 Pirus, also wrote down his family members' names Wednesday as part of Makin's effort to refute the validity of a statement read by the prosecution during his trial Tuesday.The statement, said to be provided by fellow Piru-member Korwin Thomas to police, indicated that Spearman had punched and then vowed to kill Allen the day before after Spearman's sister, "Dee Dee," told him Allen had taken money out of her purse.Thomas, who spoke of PCP use during that period, testified Tuesday that he did not recall providing this statement, read to jurors by Ramon Rodriguez.Spearman testified Wednesday that he never confronted Allen, a member of the rival Crips-affiliated 5-2 Hoova gang, at a Port Arthur apartment complex as the statement alleged.Running through the list of siblings one by one, Spearman testified that none of them go by the name "Dee Dee." His attorney later emphasized Thomas' testimony that he was perpetually high on PCP at that time in his life and encouraged jurors to question how reliable his testimony was if there is no "Dee Dee."Rodriguez, however, noted that it would not be unusual for someone to call Spearman's oldest sister, Dewanda, "Dee Dee," placing a check mark above each of the two Ds in her name.Spearman claimed he first saw Allen on Nov. 25 when he approached him on the dance floor at the club and began throwing gang signs as Z-Ro's "I'm a Gangsta'" played. The two began to fight, Spearman testified, and he hit Allen, knocking him back. Allen drew a gun and they struggled. Spearman said he pushed the gun away from himself and toward Allen before it went off."I had nothing against him. We was just fighting and I didn't know it would go to gunplay," he said.Asked on cross-examination by Rodriguez which hand the gun was in, Spearman testified that it was in Allen's left hand.On rebuttal, Rodriguez called Allen's father, Alfred Allen, who testified that his son was right-handed."If you're right-handed, this is your dominant hand and you're strapped, you're packing, where are you going to have your gun?" Rodriguez asked in his closing. "Common sense will tell you that."

Read More

Streater is a member of the Bloods street gang. Martinez is a member of the Latin Kings, and Cruz is an associate of the same gang.

Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi announced today that a Burlington County Grand Jury indicted three men for the August 16, 2008 shooting of two brothers – one fatally – in the parking lot of the Mount Laurel, N.J., Marriott.

The Grand Jury indicted the following individuals on charges of Murder, Attempted Murder, Aggravated Assault, and Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose: Daniel Cruz, age 24, of North 27th Street in Camden, N.J.Richard Martinez, age 34, of Gibbons Court in Atco, N.J.Antonio K. Streater, 26, of Vine Street in Camden, N.J.The investigation revealed that on August 16 at approximately 10:15 p.m., Gabriel Figueroa and Luis Pedroza, who are brothers, exited the Marriott and were shot after being confronted by Cruz, Martinez and Streater in the parking lot.
Figueroa was pronounced dead at Kennedy Memorial Hospital in Cherry Hill. Pedroza was shot in the shoulder and survived after being treated at Cooper University Medical Center in Camden. Figueroa, 20, and Pedroza, 27, were from Camden, N.J. They had checked into the hotel a few hours before being shot.Cruz and Martinez were arrested October 16, 2008, and Streater was arrested the following day.
Streater is a member of the Bloods street gang. Martinez is a member of the Latin Kings, and Cruz is an associate of the same gang.The shootings were investigated by detectives from the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, the BCPO’s Gangs, Guns and Narcotics Task Force and the Mount Laurel Police Department.An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.

Read More

Andrew Robert Ramirez, 21,Colton gang member who shot and killed 19-year-old Michael McLeod outside a party was sentenced to life in state prison

Colton gang member who shot and killed 19-year-old Michael McLeod outside a party was sentenced Wednesday to life in state prison without the possibility of parole. Andrew Robert Ramirez, 21, was convicted in November of murder and special allegations, including the use of a firearm, during a trial in San Bernardino Superior Court. The jury also found true a charge of special circumstances for committing a robbery to benefit a street gang. The special circumstance carried the life sentence, explained Deputy District Attorney Sharon Caldwell. Ramirez was also sentenced to 25 years to life for the murder and 10 years for the special allegations. However, Ramirez will not go to prison right away. He is awaiting trial as a defendant in another case for a home invasion robbery in June 2007 in Colton. Ramirez shot McLeod while he was leaving a party with a group of people in the 600 block of West L Street in Colton on April 20, 2007. McLeod was shot in the head and died at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, according to Colton police.
Police arrested Ramirez about two months later after he ran from them near 6th and Congress streets. He was captured after a short foot chase and booked into jail.

Read More

Suspected Zeta gang leader Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa, One of Mexico's 24 most-wanted drug traffickers.

Suspected Zeta gang leader Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa, One of Mexico's 24 most-wanted drug traffickers.Federal police say Sauceda Gamboa was detained in the border city of Matamoros, across the border from Brownsville, Texas.Sauceda Gamboa appears on a list of 24 alleged drug traffickers published by prosecutors in March. Authorities have offered rewards of up to $2.1 million for each suspect.Police said Wednesday that they also seized five rifles and more than 4,500 rounds of ammunition in the raid that netted Sauceda Gamboa.The Zetas are a violent drug gang based in the states along Mexico's Gulf coast, and have been involved in many of the killings that have taken more than 10,650 lives since 2006.

Read More

Wednesday's attack occurred about a mile away from a fatal shooting on March 28 in which attackers yelled the name of a Bassett street gang.

Self-proclaimed gang members shot and wounded a man in front of his home as he took out the trash Wednesday afternoon, authorities and witnesses said. The drive-by shooting occurred about 1:50 p.m. in front of a house at Amar Road and Melham Avenue in an unincorporated county area near La Puente. The wounded 20-year-old man was shot twice in the leg, said his uncle, who asked that his name not be published for fear of retaliation. The nephew and two of his friends were doing some cleaning at the home prior to the attack, the uncle said. "They were taking out some trash... and there were like five shots," he said. The assailants yelled out the name of a Bassett street gang during the incident, he added. The two or more attackers fled southbound on Melham Avenue in a dark-colored compact car, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Rico Sandoval said. The wounds did not appear to be life-threatening, he added. A minivan parked in front of the home had two bullet holes in it. The home's wall also had one bullet hole. "The other two are in my nephew's leg," the uncle said. The uncle said his nephew was not involved with gangs and he did not know what motivated the shooting. "I don't know what happened," he said. "Why in broad daylight?" A teenage boy at the scene said he was standing next to the victim during the shooting but declined to comment further. The uncle said the shooting in the normally quiet neighborhood had him worried about the safety of his family. One of the bullets struck a wall only feet from his elderly mother's room. "I'll keep an eye out," he said. "That's all I can do." Wednesday's attack occurred about a mile away from a fatal shooting on March 28 in which attackers yelled the name of a Bassett street gang. Oscar Reyes, a 33-year-old father and local resident, was gunned down as he stood in front of an apartment building on Cadwell Street, just west of Aileron Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said. Family members said Reyes was not involved with gangs. Sandoval said gang violence often comes in surges. "Like any gang out there, sometimes their activity level rises and then drops," Sandoval said. "It often depends on which members are currently in jail."

Read More

Reginald Royal, 32, Lonnial Rountree, 20, and Terrance Hilson, 29, were charged Saturday for the murder of 38-year-old Ray Washington was shot dead

Three men were charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of a suspected high-ranking member of the Four Corners Hustler street gang.Reginald Royal, 32, Lonnial Rountree, 20, and Terrance Hilson, 29, were charged Saturday for the murder of 38-year-old Ray Washington who was shot dead at the 3800 block of West Flournoy in the West Lawndale neighborhood Thursday.A housing inspector with Washington was also shot but was expected to live.
Washington was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead.The three men led police on a brief chase before being arrested shortly after the shooting.

Read More

20 members of the "Chain Gang" and "Wolf Pack" are locked up.

Prosecutors say more than 20 members of the "Chain Gang" and "Wolf Pack" are locked up. Federal agents busted a major Rochester gang Monday.It is a major takedown for Rochester. "I can tell you these individuals are responsible for a tremendous amount of violence that's taking place in our community," said Rochester Police Chief David Moore.Prosecutors tell us it's the first time in the city's history that the RICO statute is being used to bust up a gang. It's the same law that was used to bring down the mob. Monday, it was used to arrest two-dozen young people, mostly on the city's east side.Federal and local law enforcement teamed up Monday to make the arrests. Many of the arrests came in and around Grand and Garson Avenues. Gail Ashley has heard of the gangs. She's known as the church lady in her neighborhood and even knows some of the gang members. "They don't want to be out there selling drugs, and they don't want to be in a gang and all of that," said Ashley. "But what choice do they have?"Ashley says many times they don't have a choice. She believes the problem is poor education and lack of jobs. Other neighbors like Jeff Hoffmann agree. He says the lack of jobs turns many teens to the streets. "Living here in the midst of it, there are a lot of good people in this neighborhood," said Hoffmann. But while he is tending to his garden, crimes are being committed around him. "You get property destruction, you get theft, and you get transits coming in out of the neighborhoods," said Hoffmann. "Perhaps buying drugs." Police Chief David Moore says Monday's arrests are significant."Gang violence is a significant role in the violence we see in this community," Moore said. Sources tell us the suspects are accused of all sorts of crimes ranging from murders to gun charges to drug dealing. But Ashley sees a different side to these suspects."Most of them are good boys," said Ashley. "They just (come from) broken homes or just boredom."
People who live in the neighborhood hope Monday's arrests will help clean up the streets. Chief Moore says there's no doubt. It's a guaranteed safer community. We also spoke with Mayor Bob Duffy. He says gang activity simply will not be tolerated in Rochester. Racketeering comes with a stiff penalty. If convicted, the maximum sentence is 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine.

Read More

Fifteen alleged members and associates of the Raza Unida prison and street gang were indicted

Fifteen alleged members and associates of the Raza Unida prison and street gang were indicted in Houston, Texas for trafficking in significant quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine and possessing firearms unlawfully and during the commission of drug trafficking offenses.

Read More

German Torres, 29, was arrested in Mexico City on Friday. He is believed to be a founding member of the feared "Zetas"

German Torres, 29, was arrested in Mexico City on Friday. He is believed to be a founding member of the feared "Zetas" wing of the powerful Gulf cartel that dominates drug smuggling from northeastern Mexico into Texas.The public security ministry said Torres was also thought to be involved in the kidnapping of Batista, a Cuban-American credited with negotiating past releases of hostages held by Colombian rebels, in the northern city of Saltillo on December 10.Investigators ran DNA tests in February on charred bodies found in the surrounding state of Coahuila but have yet to confirm whether Batista was among them.The Coahuila state attorney general's office declined to comment on its investigation into Batista, who disappeared after he apparently stepped outside a restaurant alone after answering a cell phone call.Separately in Coahuila, suspected drug hitmen killed the police chief of Piedras Negras, a town on the Texas border, after less than three weeks in the job, local media reported.Arturo Navarro, a former army colonel, was shot in his vehicle in the early hours of Saturday, Zocalo and El Norte newspaper websites said. Police declined to comment.

Read More

Mexican drug cartels are entrenched in Oklahoma

Mexican drug cartels are entrenched in Oklahoma, casting an ominous shadow on the future of our cities and rural communities. "Oklahoma's No. 1 threat is the Mexican drug cartels," said Darrell Weaver, executive director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control. "Make no mistake." gathered over the past 14 years has revealed a shadowy underworld of "second- and third-generation" Mexican drug smugglers who have gained a foothold throughout Oklahoma. They often operate in rural towns under the guise of a legitimate business such as a meat market or restaurant, and their connections have been traced to nearly all of Mexico's most notorious cartels — Sinaloa, Los Zetas, La Familia Michoacana, La Linea and Juarez.

"At least 90 percent of the drugs we see here in Oklahoma are coming from the Mexican drug cartels," said one undercover state agent who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity.

The agent, known as "Agent M.S." for this article, is a veteran investigator who often conducts direct buys with major drug distributors. He is a second-generation American citizen whose father once served in the Mexican military, and he has participated in many of Oklahoma's largest drug busts in the past 15 years. "They're really in our neighborhoods," said Agent M.S., who posed as a seller in a sting operation in August at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City. Unarmed, he met three Mexican dealers who scanned his body with a hand-held metal detector to see if he was wired with a recorder or listening device. Once satisfied that he wasn't an undercover agent or police informant, the men began to talk about business and their connections with Mexican drug cartel members in Dallas and beyond the Rio Grande. "They mentioned real names of cartel members," Agent M.S. said. "Suddenly I realized I'm dealing with a guy on a real level. He wanted 50 kilos (of cocaine) a week. You're talking $1 million to $1.5 million a week worth of cocaine. That's real money and whenever you're talking about those kinds of purchases, you're dealing with a Mexican drug cartel.
Information gathered from the encounter led to a Mexican restaurant owner who had been using his popular western Oklahoma business as a front for his drug-smuggling operation. The investigation continues with hopes of netting higher-level cartel members. "Oklahomans are in danger because they deal with these people without them knowing," Agent M.S. said. "They'll visit their restaurants (or other businesses) they own. The danger is being caught in the crossfire." The cartels are also providing children with drugs, and rural communities are no longer insulated from the major drug operations. In fact, Agent M.S. said, one informant recently claimed that two large warehouses are cooking methamphetamine somewhere in the state. Such warehouses — known as "fiesta labs" in Mexico — are designed to cook massive amounts of methamphetamine around the clock. Another undercover state agent, who also asked for anonymity as "Agent P.A.," said, "The average citizen doesn't have a clue as to the reality of the Mexican drug cartels operating in the United States, and specifically Oklahoma. "And it's not just in Oklahoma City. It's everywhere they can gain a foothold. You go to Elk City, and if you dig deep enough you'll find a connection in Elk City. You can go to Woodward Altus Frederick and you can find a connection if you look hard enough."

Read More

Three high-ranking Salvadoran gangsters suspected of being major drug suppliers

Police arrested 29-year-old Jose Callehas-Alfaro, 23-year-old German Escobar and 22-year-old Pedro Escobar on suspicion of possession of meth for sale, conspiracy to commit a crime, participating in a criminal street gang and other charges.Police say a month-long investigation has led to the arrest of three high-ranking Salvadoran gangsters suspected of being major drug suppliers.On Friday, Santa Cruz police said they seized three pounds of methamphetamine and a loaded, stolen handgun in a drug sting coordinated with the Fresno County Sheriff's Office narcotics team.Police Capt. Steve Clark says officers purchased meth from the three men on Wednesday for $42,000. Police say the men are suppliers of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin and that this particular shipment was destined for Fresno County.Alfaro and Pedro Escobar are being held on $35,000 bail at the Santa Cruz County Jail. German Escobar's bail is $85,000.

___

Read More

Murdered Ray Washington, an alleged leader in the Four Corner Hustler gang

Killed was Ray Washington, an alleged leader in the Four Corner Hustler gang, police said. The inspector with Washington also was shot, but he was expected to live.alleged high-ranking Chicago gang member with addresses on the North Shore and in a far southwest suburb was gunned down Thursday afternoon while standing outside a West Side residence with a housing inspector, authorities said.
Washington and the inspector -- who works for a company contracting with the Chicago Housing Authority -- were shot at 1:30 p.m. Thursday while standing in the 3800 block of West Flournoy. Police think Washington was in the neighborhood because of property he is involved in there and was possibly shot over gang issues, Gang Enforcement Section Cmdr. Leo Schmitz said.Although investigators initially believed the property was being appraised, CHA officials said the inspector was there to do a Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) inspection on a unit.Police arrested three suspects after a short chase and also seized two weapons within minutes of the shooting.According to records and law enforcement sources, Washington, 38, has several addresses in the Chicago area. His address was listed in the 1900 block of Browning Court in Highland Park, although it is unclear whether that was his current home.
That home was described as expansive, as was another home he apparently had in south suburban Frankfort.Washington, a convicted felon, has an arrest record that includes narcotics and weapons violations, according to records. His name also surfaced in major mortgage fraud investigations involving upper-level gang members, a source said.Harrison District tactical officers heard the shots and saw the gunmen getting into a car. Other officers, including gang enforcement teams, joined the chase and walked the neighborhood to find the guns. The suspects were arrested a short distance away after running from the car.“They did a murder in plain view in the middle of day,” Schmitz

Read More

Asian Cobras Hmong gang is trying to recruit his sons through intimidation.

Asian gangs are expanding and becoming more visible. The groups have typically been overshadowed by larger street gangs, like Crips or Bloods. As police investigate Wednesday’s firebombing of the home on N. Banks police are learning more about the gang that's reportedly behind the attack. The homeowner claims a Hmong gang is trying to recruit his sons through intimidation. They've vandalized cars, sprayed the house with bullets and now the violence. No one was hurt in the attack. "I think they are trying to scare me or give up and join them," he said. Threats and violence are common gang recruitment tactic. "That is that the way these gangs often work, is you join us or else, you are either with us or against us and using those intimidation factors brings other people in," Portland State sociologist Randy Blazak said. Experts say, Asian gangs often go unnoticed. Unlike other street gangs, they tend to prey on their own community. "Its a sort of insular world that a lot of people on the outside world don't have access to, including other gang members," according to Blazak. “I mean, it is often a mystery to other gang members like Bloods and Crips about how groups like Asian Cobras and those groups work.” Police records obtained by KGW detail another rare public incident in November, when gang members sparked a small riot at a Hmong New Year's festival in Hillsboro.


Police worry the once relatively quiet gangs are becoming more active and the violence more extreme and more public.


Police don't have an exact number of Asian gang members, but they figure it is a small percentage of the estimated 3,000 street gang members statewide.

Read More

Members of the Southside Bloods, East Side Bloods, Southside Rattlers, or West Side Rattlers gangs.indicted on 45 counts of aggravated assault

Ten young Albany men, most 19 or 20 years of age, were indicted Wednesday on 45 counts of aggravated assault, firearm crimes, and street gang activity. Prosecutors say they are members of the Southside Bloods, East Side Bloods, Southside Rattlers, or West Side Rattlers gangs.Prosecutors say December 27th in the 11-hundred block of West Gordon Avenue they opened fire with shotguns and pistols. 17 year old John Greene and 19 year old Jonathon Williams were both wounded."From an earlier incident where there had been a brief altercation, and then this retaliatory incident. And that's what this involved," said Dougherty District Attorney Greg Edwards.Both Greene and Williams are recovering, and were not charged in the indictment. Edwards said the Grand Jury message is clear, that gang violence will not be tolerated in Albany."This type of gang warfare endangers everybody and this is a clear instance of this. They just opened fire and two people were hit," Edwards said.If the ten men are found guilty, they will likely spend most of the remainder of their lives behind bars.
"If they are convicted, their parole officer probably has not been born yet," Edwards said.Seven of the ten gang members have been released on bond, three remain in jail pending trial.

Read More

Clayton Roueche founder of the UN gang is scheduled to enter a guilty plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Clayton Roueche is scheduled to enter a guilty plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle. It wasn't immediately clear Friday if he would plead to all or just some of the charges against him. No plea agreement has been made public, and his lawyer, Todd Maybrown, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.Roueche, of Vancouver, British Columbia, had long steered clear of the U.S. because he feared arrest - telling one woman in a monitored conversation he couldn't drive her to Bellingham, Wash., because he'd spend the next 20 years in a U.S. prison.But he was finally caught last year after he tried to attend a wedding in Mexico. Mexican authorities wouldn't let him enter the country, and at the request of the Americans, they put him on a flight home that landed first in Dallas.U.S. authorities immediately arrested him based on a then-sealed indictment charging him with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana and to launder money.The charges against him stem from an investigation called Operation Frozen Timber, which uncovered the smuggling of tons of marijuana into the U.S. by private planes and helicopters. When results of the investigation were announced in 2006, federal agents had arrested 40 people and seized roughly 4 tons of marijuana, 800 pounds of cocaine, three aircraft and $1.5 million in cash.
Canadian officials say Roueche founded the UN gang - so called because of its ethnic diversity - in the Fraser River Valley southeast of Vancouver about 12 years ago."This is a significant case that will have an effect on this organized crime group," Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Tim Shields said Friday. "The UN gang poses a significant risk to public safety in the greater Vancouver area and beyond, and it has been linked to drug trafficking, violent crimes and murders."In recent months, Mexican soldiers have clamped down on the cocaine trade there, dramatically cutting the supply and driving up prices in the U.S. and Canada, investigators say. As a result, gangs in British Columbia that export marijuana and import cocaine and guns have been fighting over the remaining supply. There have been more than 30 killings in the Vancouver area this year, with police attributing many of them to gangs.

Read More

27th Street Gang often clashes with the 31st Street Gang."They were just walking home, walking down the street,"

Harvey Lewis, 15, a cadet with the police Explorers program, and his friend Dominque Smith, 18, both of South Philadelphia, each suffered a gunshot wound to the back of the head as they walked home from a friend's house.Police say they believe three assailants, possibly in their teens, ran up behind Lewis and Smith on 26th Street near Morris Street and shot them. Several 9mm casings and a 9mm gun were recovered there."They were just walking home, walking down the street," Homicide Capt. James Clark said yesterday. "We believe somebody in the neighborhood knows who did this. . . . We really need the public's help finding the people who killed these two very innocent people."
Neither Lewis nor Smith had a criminal history or was involved in activities that would make him a likely victim, police have said. Clark, who has called the victims "good kids," said detectives had ruled out robbery as a motive.The task force will be made up of investigators from homicide, patrol, South Detectives, and the Criminal Intelligence Unit.Lewis' mother, Arleen Weston, and Smith's mother, Sharon Smith, said this week that their children likely had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.The neighborhood is well-known for slayings among teens from rival blocks. The 27th Street Gang often clashes with the 31st Street Gang. Relatives said Lewis and Smith had not been part of that.
Bishop James Darrell Robinson of Yesha Ministries Worship Center, 2301 Snyder Ave., has been counseling the two families."Last thing I heard was that the culprits approached and realized it was the wrong people, but one of them said, 'Shoot them anyway,' " Robinson said of reports circulating in the neighborhood.He also decried the pervasive "no snitch" culture, saying: "The biggest fight we have is really against the mentality. We definitely need the public's help, and hopefully someone will come forward."Detectives have not been able to find witnesses who heard what the gunmen said or could give a detailed description of them, Clark said. The task force is checking all surveillance cameras in the area with recordings from that night.Both mothers said their sons desperately had wanted to get away from the violence in the neighborhood.Services for Lewis and Smith will be held together Monday at Yesha Ministries Worship Center. Friends may call from 9 to 10:45 a.m., with the funeral service at 11 and burial to follow. Officials said the families were trying to make arrangements for the two friends to be buried next to each other.

Read More

36th Street Bang Squad busted 13 members bringing more than 100 charges, police said

The operation against the 36th Street Bang Squad was carried out Friday morning, Hampton police spokeswoman Cpl. Paula Ensley said.Hampton and Newport News police officers, with the assistance of federal and state investigators, have busted 13 members of a street gang, bringing more than 100 charges, police said Friday.
She said warrants were obtained for 15 members of the gang. Police eventually picked up 13 people."The Hampton Police Division, along with the assistance of the Newport News Police Department, Virginia State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigations conducted a warrant operation in reference to serving 103 felony and misdemeanor gang related warrants," Ensley said.The gang is a sect of the criminal street gang Bloods, according to previous affidavits for search warrants."The Hampton Police Division would like to thank the Hampton Commonwealth Attorney's Office, Newport News Police Department, the Virginia State Police and the FBI for their assistance in this operation. This successful operation is another perfect example of how all local law enforcement agencies are working together to combat gangs in our cities," Ensley said.The operation comes just over a month after federal prosecutors announced indictments against 10 people who they said were members of the "Dump Squad," the "Bang Gang" or the "Slump Mobb" — a gang based in southeast Newport News.Almost 40 charges, including three homicides, were leveled against the people arrested in Newport News under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which entails running a criminal racketeering enterprise.Ensley said federal law was not used in Friday's operation and all of the charges were from Hampton Police Division warrants.Details of the charges were still emerging Friday evening.Ensley said "numerous felony charges" had been brought in the Hampton operation but no charges for homicide had been brought.The 36th Street Bang Squad was mentioned last year in court documents when police investigated the shooting death of 14-year-old Robjea Mitchell inside a home on Greenbriar Avenue in Hampton in October.Police said suspected juvenile members of the gang were in the house at the time.Police have not made a decision on whether the death will be considered an accident or a homicide.

Read More

Drug deal gone bad, shots were fired from a van at Sarto Street and Cambridge Avenue in Carlisle.

Shots were fired from a van at Sarto Street and Cambridge Avenue in Carlisle.Sheriff David Taylor said the violence stemmed from a dispute between gangs in Union and Carlisle.A vehicle deputies said was connected to the shooting was pulled over at Highways 215 and 72 in Union County.Deputies said that the shooting was connected to drug deal last week at the Union County alternative school.
Investigtors said that 11 adults and 15 juveniles have been charged, with more arrests expected.

Read More

Former Gangster Disciples enforcer Wallace “Gator” Bradley sued a former Death Row inmate

Former Gangster Disciples enforcer Wallace “Gator” Bradley sued a former Death Row inmate today, claiming he was not paid for his services as an “urban translator.”
In a lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court, Bradley says Aaron Patterson owes him $100,000 for consulting and investigative work. Patterson received a $5 million settlement from the city in a false-imprisonment lawsuit. He is back in prison on a federal weapon conviction.

Read More