Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Before joining The Times in 2018, he covered city news and state politics at the Hartford Courant. In a letter released by inmate advocates, Castellanos denounced the federal investigation as a set-up and described Florencia 13 as his old childhood street gang. He has also questioned why the feds only named him as an unindicted co-conspirator (Castellanos and the secret note were also mentioned in a 2007 indictment against other alleged gang members). La Familia Michoacana and it successor, Los Caballeros Templarios (the Knights Templar), is a major drug cartel based in the Mexican state of Michoacn and is responsible for the trafficking of hundreds of thousands of pounds of controlled substances, including methamphetamine, from Mexico into the United States, according to the indictment. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. The lead defendant in RICO indictment Leonel Laredo, a.k.a. This investigation into the Mexican Mafia started in May 2010 and also involved the Montebello Police Department, the Bakersfield Police Department, the Long Beach Police Department, the Glendale Police Department, the United States Marshals Service, the United States Secret Service, the Stanislaus Drug Enforcement Agency, the United States Bureau of Prisons, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation-Special Services Unit, and the Huntington Park Police Department. Prosecutors allege Castellanos continued to discuss gang business in meetings with visitors at Pelican Bay as recently as 2011 and in the aftermath of an earlier hunger strike. or redistributed. Federal prosecutors charge alleged gang members with killing off-duty State corrections officials say conditions in the units are humane and that the severe restrictions are necessary to curtail gang communications. The seven-count indictment which names six members of the Mexican Mafia, three associates of the prison gang, and four people directly linked to the La Familia cartel outlines a venture between the criminal organizations that participants referred to as the Project, and which involved the highest levels of La Familia. SPOKANE, Wash., -Aleandro Leon, age 24, of Pasco, Washington, was sentenced on June 30, 2021, after having pleaded guilty to: being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, conspiracy to provide prohibited objects to an inmate in prison; and inmate in possession of a prohibited object. The Joint Regional Intelligence Center provided support during the investigation. Florence is simply known as F13, one of the oldest gangs that use "13" in their name which represents the 13th letter in the alphabet for marijuana or mota and not for the Mexican Mafia like many law enforcement professionals claim. 13 Linked To Mexican Mafia And La Familia Indicted After - DEA A document seized by law enforcement in 2004 indicated the degree to which members of the Mexican Mafia controlled Florencia-13. As part of the alliance between the criminal enterprises, the indicted members and associates of the Mexican Mafia helped La Familia distribute narcotics by ordering, instructing, and informing Hispanic gang members to protect La Familia drug shipments and sales, to prevent criminal taxation of La Familia drug shipments and sales, and to collect drug debts, according to the indictment, which also alleges that Mexican Mafia members would protect incarcerated members of La Familia. The Mexican Mafia has a powerful grasp on these [Latino] gangs, said Peter Hernandez, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case. That same night, in an alley in Huntington Park, Dorado, Fazah and other members of the gang circled the victim and proceeded to punch and kick him repeatedly, after which Fazah brandished an illegal handgun and fatally shot the victim in the face. According to information disclosed during court proceedings, Leon was under Department of Corrections supervision for a drive-by shooting conviction when he was indicted in three separate federal indictments, all involving separate criminal conduct from January 2019 until April 2020. The indictments targeting the Mexican Mafia and the La Familia drug cartel are the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department; and the Los Angeles High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA)/Southern California Drug Task Force, a federally funded group led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). There is no reliable estimate of how much money Florencia-13 generates for its Mexican Mafia overlords. By then Florencia 13 had bulged to include three dozen cliquesroughly 2,000 members in alland joined 18th Street and the Salvadoran Mara Salvatrucha as some of Southern California's . 13 indicted, 8 arrested in Calif. drug cartel investigation The violence left dozens of people dead, including many with no gang affiliation, and required enormous county resources to combat. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Any gang member who had an issue with another was to bring it up at the clique meeting. But to hear prosecutors tell it, Arturo Castellanos grip on Florencia-13 led to a series of racially motivated attacks. "He was a really humble hard worker, always walked around with a smile, and he was just really, really nice to be around," an officer told FOX 11. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Login . Prosecutors alleged Castellanos was a Mexican Mafia member and undisputed leader of Florencia 13 and its associated cliques, and that he received payments from the gangs illegal activities into his inmate trust account. The investigation in this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Huntington Park Police Department, and the Los Angeles Police Department. Beginning in 2004, the unincorporated Los Angeles County area north of Watts was the site of one of the regions worst gang sieges since the early 1990s, evolving into what some residents felt was a race war. LOS ANGELES - A federal jury late Tuesday convicted three men and one woman from Los Angeles County of conspiring to participate in the racketeering activities of the Florencia 13 criminal street gang (F13 Gang), as well as of related drug trafficking and firearms offenses.. Jose Dorado, 34, Tannous Fazah, 26, Jose Sanchez, 40, all of Huntington Park, and Giselle Casado, 33, of Downey, were . Los Angeles Police officers bow their heads in prayer to honor their fallen colleague, Officer Fernando Arroyos, who was shot and killed during an armed robbery. At the conclusion of the brutal beating that ensued, Fazah brandished a handgun and shot the victim in the face, killing him. Theres still some concern, and I would even say some fear, but with a little F -- not fear like there was, Pastor Le Grande said. He also ordered the gang to attack the local Crips gang, whose members are black. This case was prosecuted by Stephanie Van Marter, Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. The suspects were alleged members of Florencia 13, and are facing murder and attempted murder charges.[12]. According to an FBI agents affidavit, one of the defendants has admitted that they were driving around, looking for someone to rob, when Rios spotted Arroyos and remarked, He has a nice chain, lets get it.. Judge Bastian sentenced Leon to 100 months on the firearms offense and a consecutive 60 months on the contraband offense. The Mexican Mafia, whose members are generally senior members of street gangs such as Florencia 13, also exercises control over and directs the narcotics trafficking activities of Latino street gangs across Southern California and in prisons. Even after his arrest, this criminal conduct continued with the serious actions within the Benton County Jail. Casado had been released on bond since her arrest in August 2013; however, after the verdicts Judge OConnell ordered her remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. Your IP: This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Christopher C. Kendall of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Section. 336 Florencia Ave, San Antonio, TX 78228 | MLS #1679310 | Zillow Two more gang members are scheduled to be sentenced later this month. The Sheriffs Department added about 30 deputies, and last year it brought an injunction against Florencia. Legal Statement. F13 members shot him "three or four times, but he survived." The F13 indictment marks the third high-profile Latino gang charged with attacking blacks in the past two years. News Florencia 13 Gang Member Arrested on Rico Charges Latino Gang Members Indicted for 'Cleansing' Operation 3 Gang Members Charged With Race Killing Four years ago, authorities arrested dozens of members of South Los Angeles' Florencia 13 gang in connection with the killing of blacks because of the color of their skin. He hasnt been on the streets since 1979. Earlier this year, Carter had handed out life sentences to Florencia members Jesse Vasquez, 36; Alberto Hernandez, 28; Gilberto Oliva, 41; Manuel Hernandez, 27; and Noe Gonzalez, 28. In August, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles named Castellanos in an indictment alleging a host of narcotics, firearms and fraud offenses, all carried out from his cell at Pelican Bay. Eric Garcia, a Florencia-13 gang member, said he facilitated conference calls with dozens of Mexican Mafia members, who dialed in from prison cells on contraband phones, to discuss the. It also demands a firm set of rules and a way to impose them on operatives on the streets, often violent and obstreperous gang members. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. "There's a fascination with gangs," said founder Alfred Lomas, a former member of the Florencia 13 gang. MLS # 1679310 Patrons can play slot machines and other electronic games, buy and use narcotics, and meet sex workers at the establishments, according to testimony at an earlier racketeering trial. How snitches and sex offenders are rooted out and punished. All 13 defendants are charged in count one of the indictment, which outlines the Mexican Mafia-La Familia alliance and alleges a conspiracy to distribute narcotics. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. A second indictment unsealed today alleges that five F13 members and associates, working out of a South Los Angeles hookah lounge, participated in a scheme to distribute methamphetamine. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images), Elected officials took a hands-off approach to public safety: LAPD officer. In an indictment brought in 2007, authorities accused the gang of attacking members of rival Black gangs in an attempt to drive them from the Florence-Firestone area. Those arrested today are among 36 members and associates of the F13 gang named in six federal grand jury indictments. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Wildfires in Anchorage? The indictment alleges that two incarcerated Mexican Mafia members are the leaders of the Florencia 13 gang, and that they directed the activities of the street gang from a California state prison and received payments derived from the gang's illegal activities. [10] They allege the protest leaders have a hidden agenda strengthening the hand of criminal groups that control drug and extortion rackets behind bars and on the streets. Homicides dropped to 10 last year. Latino Gang Tried to Drive All Blacks From California City Florencia-13 members also collect protection money from local merchants who seek help in keeping gang members from hurting their business, the former member of the gang said. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Those rules and letters from Castellanos attempted to adhere those prison rules to the street, he said. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS More than 20 people were killed. But Laredo, an alleged member of the Mexican Mafia who has been incarcerated since 2000, was recorded in a call from prison telling an associate on the street that 40% of the money collected from the gangs rackets was owed to the four Mexican Mafia members from Florencia-13, according to an indictment charging him with racketeering. Dorado then reported back to the incarcerated F13 Gang member who issued the order: Thats a done deal. Things have gotten a lot better, said Chris Le Grande, pastor of Great Hope Missionary Baptist Church on Compton Avenue in Florence-Firestone. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7c0660170e4a056a Chief Judge Bastian determined Leon posed a danger to the community and an extreme risk to re-offend given his significant criminal history and recidivist criminal behavior. To his supporters, Castellanos is a relentless campaigner for prisoner rights who has eschewed a history of violence to help coordinate peaceful protests behind bars. Officer Fernando Arroyos, 27, was shot to death the night of Jan. 10 near the intersection of 87th and Beach streets. In addition, 11 members and associates of the Florencia-13 gang were arrested Wednesday during "Operation Friday the 13th." They face federal racketeering, narcotics and firearms charges,. The three men are members of Florencia-13, according to the FBI. The indictment unsealed today focuses on how the gang has generated illicit profits through the sale of drugs and firearms, fraud, and extortion. Stay in touch. Anthony Williams, DEA Special Agent in Charge, commented: This multi-agency, coordinated investigation identified a network of drug traffickers tied directly to one of the most violent Mexican drug cartels La Familia or the Knights Templar. Los Angeles gang areas highlights of this tour The officer collapsed in an alley, mortally wounded. 312 North Spring Street That has reduced payback killings as well. Police say he was with his girlfriend, looking at a house that he was thinking of buying, when two men robbed him at gunpoint of his wallet and jewelry. How drug sales, prostitution and other illegal activities are organized and taxed, with a percentage going to gang leaders behind bars. Feinstein has vowed to return to Washington, but what happens if she doesnt? Luis De La Rosa Rios, Jesse Contreras, Ernesto Cisneros and Haylee Grisham have been charged in federal court with Arroyos killing. A partner of Leon, Miguel Candido' s apartment was searched in March of 2019 where 5000 pills containing fentanyl, onepound of heroin, over $20,000 in US currency, drug ledgers, scales, and cell phones linking the two to a criminal organization were located. These violent gang members belong in prison, not in our communities. It is the hoods responsibility to clean the hood of such trash, the rules state. I believe one of his objectives is to get [transferred] to federal prison to further his business plan, Enriquez said. . 312 North Spring Street All cliques must make sure you dont get infested by rats, P.C.s, or 25-debriefers gang members who cooperate with law enforcement by checking the paperwork, or court files, of every Florencia-13 member coming out of jail. Sanchez also served as armed security and carried a firearm to protect the casitas drug operations. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS This resulted in the Mexican Mafia putting a green light out on the East Coast Crips. Four Florencia-13 members have gone on to join the Mexican Mafia, law enforcement officials have testified in prosecutions of the gang: Arturo Castellanos, known as "Tablas"; his brother Braulio, nicknamed "Babo"; Juan "Topo" Garcia and Leonel "Wizard" Laredo. The case showed the remarkable power the Mexican Mafia prison gang holds over Southern California Latino street gangs. Florencia 13 has a long history of being involved in drug trafficking in Los Angeles, where they have held a leadership . The suspects were alleged members of Florencia 13, and are facing murder and attempted murder charges. Sanchez will face an additional five-year mandatory, consecutive term of imprisonment due to his conviction for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Four charged federally in killing of LAPD officer who was shot while 13 Linked To Mexican Mafia And La Familia Indicted After Investigation Reveals Plot To Join Forces To Expand Drug Cartels Presence In U.S. http://www.justice.gov/usao/cac/Pressroom/pr2010/025.html, Former Wells Fargo Executive Agrees to Plead Guilty to Obstructing Bank Examination Involving the Opening of Millions of Accounts Without Customer Authorization, West Los Angeles Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges for Using Snapchat to Entice Child into Producing Sexually Explicit Videos, Carson Man Sentenced to More Than 18 Years in Federal Prison for Making Sexually Explicit Videos of 15-Year-Old Victim. Wednesday, June 7, 2017 Contact: Los Angeles Field Division 818-265-2507 www.atf.gov Two Florencia 13 Gang Members Sentenced to Life in Prison LOS ANGELES - Two key operatives of the Florencia 13 street gang were sentenced this week to life without parole in federal prison. Luis De La Rosa Rios, Jesse Contreras, Ernesto Cisneros and Haylee Grisham have been charged in federal court with Arroyos' killing. [7] They are involved in drug smuggling, murder, assault and robbery. The indictment named 30 members and associates of the F13 gang. The notes, he said, were written by Arturo Castellanos in his cell at Pelican Bay State Prison, where he was and still is serving a life sentence for murder. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Then something changed, 7 hospitalized after driver in stolen car runs red light in San Bernardino, police say, Barstow police investigating after officer caught on video hitting man with a baton, Northern California town on edge after second fatal stabbing in a week, Man found guilty of murdering teens who ding-dong-ditched his house, Sacramento, San Francisco mayors take shots at each others city before NBA playoff game. United States Attorneys Office Dorado was also involved in the F13 Gangs efforts to smuggle illegal narcotics into local jails. The note was originally written in tiny script on a small scrap of paper known as a kite, smuggled out of Pelican Bay, recopied and then distributed to street gang members, according to federal prosecutors who are using it as evidence in a major crackdown in Los Angeles. A lock ( Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca stated: The successful results of this joint operation allowed law enforcement to intervene in the development of a very strong and powerful merger between dangerous criminal organizations. Lock [13] As of 2009, 94 of the 102 had been convicted or pleaded guilty, 3 had pending trials, 2 had died and 5 were fugitives from justice. As demonstrated at trial, Dorado, Fazah, and Sanchez were F13 Gang soldiers who engaged in narcotics trafficking, violence, and/or firearms possession in furtherance of the gang. At certain times, Florencia 13 leaders ordered killings of the East Coast Crip gang, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca. U.S. District Judge David Carter sentenced Florencia member Francisco Flores, 24, to life in prison on Wednesday, saying that he preyed on victims because they were black and for no other reason, according to a U.S. attorneys office news release. [13] The indictments included charges of drug trafficking, attempted murder, murder and extortion. Four Florencia-13 members have gone on to join the Mexican Mafia, law enforcement officials have testified in prosecutions of the gang: Arturo Castellanos, known as Tablas; his brother Braulio, nicknamed Babo; Juan Topo Garcia and Leonel Wizard Laredo. Juries have found in a number of recent trials that Florencia-13 amounts to a racketeering enterprise, but in those cases, prosecutors had evidence recorded calls, intercepted letters and jailhouse notes that its leaders had directed the drug deals, shakedowns and murders that formed a pattern of racketeering activity. Jesse Contreras, 34; Ernesto Cisneros, 22; Luis Alfredo de la Rosa Rios, 27, and Haylee Marie Grisham, 18, are charged with murdering Officer Fernando Arroyos in a violent crime in aid of. Arroyoscollapsed in an alley and died at a hospital. The jury that convicted Dorado and Fazah also returned guilty verdicts against two other F13 members who were charged in 2013 in a federal racketeering indictment. Public Information Officer [7] They are involved in drug smuggling, murder, assault and robbery. Their trial, which took place in federal court in Santa Ana in 2008, grew from an indictment of 104 Florencia gang members on charges that included racketeering, conspiracy to sell drugs and murder. A locked padlock Urrutia, a native of Santa Fe, Argentina, is currently the No. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. As revealed by a series of inmate telephone recordings, he participated in the attempt to have a co-conspirator smuggle heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine through the Los Angeles Metropolitan Courthouse on Hill Street. [8] Court testimony and the judges ruling found that F13 members had targeted African-Americans based purely on race. The operation involved the Los Angeles High- Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the IRS, and the Los Angeles County Probation Department. When Leon was arrested for those drug charges, he was unlawfully in possession of a loaded firearm. A fifth member of Florencia 13 (F13), a street gang involved in narcotics distribution and shootings of African-Americans, has been sentenced to life in federal prison for his conviction on a host of federal criminal charges, including racketeering and narcotics distribution. A separate indictment released in August alleges Mexican Mafia members attempted to form an alliance with operatives from a powerful Mexican drug cartel, with approval from leaders at Pelican Bay. Florence-Firestone, with a population of 60,000, had 43 homicides in 2005. Leon was identified as working within a criminal organization responsible for the distribution of thousands of deadly pills containing fentanyl in early 2019. Four Members and Associates of the Florencia 13 Gang Convicted of Killing of LAPD officer brings scrutiny on one of L.A.'s oldest and In March 2010, Dorado and Fazah received an order from an incarcerated, senior member of the F13 gang instructing them beat and kill the victim. The organization is made up of about 140 men, all but a handful of them imprisoned, who rose through the hierarchies of local street gangs and the penal system by displaying a readiness to commit violence or an ability to make large amounts of money, according to law enforcement sources. A third indictment charges two F13 members with being felons in possession of a firearm and ammunition, namely an AK-47-type rifle. Suite 1200 Various defendants are charged in six other counts in the indictment that allege substantive narcotics-distribution offenses, five of which relate to methamphetamine and one of which concerns marijuana. Ciaran McEvoy The second indictment unsealed Tuesday charged 31 members of the Florencia 13 street gang, which operates in south Los Angeles County, with federal racketeering (RICO) violations, as well as . It was crazy -- really crazy.. The Mexican Mafia is a powerful prison gang that controls much of the drug trade and other criminal activities within California state prisons, county jails and some federal prisons, according to the indictments unsealed this morning. Dorado and Casado were arrested on August 6, 2013 as part of a large-scale takedown of more than 20 members and associates of the F13 Gang. Tapped cellular phone calls introduced as evidence at the trial tracked Florencia members driving the streets looking for people to shoot. Let those who use, get it on the outskirts., Gangs whose members have gone on to join the Mexican Mafia are less likely to be extorted or targeted for violence green-lighted than gangs that lack representation in the Mexican Mafia. Had it been an incorporated city, that rate would have ranked it among the nations worst. On January 13, 2019, two people were shot and wounded outside the Fashion Place Mall in Salt Lake City, Utah, after an argument erupted between Florencia 13 and Norteos members. LAPD. Years of violent conflict over that territory with other gangs lent Florencia an identity and reason for being. None could be reached for comment, and they have yet to enter pleas. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. An official website of the United States government. How Imprisoned Mexican Mafia Leader Exerts Secret Control Over L.A The action drew international attention and plaudits from a host of civil and human rights groups, including the ACLU and Amnesty International. Feds: Latino Gang Targeted Blacks - Newsweek If an understanding cannot be reached, the pres from those [cliques] are to set a date for those two to box it out like real Florencianos, the rules say. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Terrence P. Mann of the Santa Ana Branch Office, Sheila Nagaraj of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and Victoria A. Degtyareva of the General Crimes Section. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Laredo, who is serving a sentence for prior racketeering and drug convictions related to his F13 activities, is one of four members of the Mexican Mafia prison gang who allegedly had leadership roles in the gang. Todays enforcement efforts will help to reduce the damaging impact of this brutal organization by arresting key members and associates of the La Familia cartel and disrupting their distribution networks in the Los Angeles area..

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