Friends of Ours

Latin Kings Takedown In Western Michigan

The feds have indicted a gaggle of suspected gangbangers with the Latin Kings on the usual charges in Holland, MI as reported by Peg McNichol for The Holland Sentinel:  "the indictment blames Holland Latin Kings for murder, arson, assault, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, drug and weapons trafficking in West Michigan and beyond, detailing a long-standing relationship with Chicago-area Latin Kings."

Meanwhile, Vicente Garcia Jr., the one-time "Supreme Regional Inca" from the Chicago cell of the Latin Kings was sentenced to forty years in prison following his 2011 racketeering conviction for "using murder and other acts of violence to protect [the] gang's drug trafficking enterprise" as reported by Naomi Nix for the Chicago Tribune:  "'this sentence holds Garcia accountable for the barbaric enterprise known as the Latin Kings and his role in murder, attempted murder, shootings, beatings, drug trafficking, and other crimes,' U.S. Attorney Gary S. Shapiro said in a statement."

Weekly Gang Roundup

***  Gang member in Whittier, CA gets death penalty following conviction for two murders including a hit for the Mexican Mafia in which he killed the wrong guy

***  Councilman in San Diego County, CA rails against a lax prison system which allows the Mexican Mafia from behind bars to control gangs on the street:

"It frustrates me to know that these [street gangs] are being controlled in prison. You have to be so politically correct, making sure they have the right kind of toilet paper and every other stupid thing. How come we can't keep them from communicating to the outside?"

***  MS-13 member gets 25 years in prison for killing Mexican immigrant after an argument at a bar in Rock Hill, SC:  "[the victim] was shot in the face and head, tried to run, then was shot in the back."

***  Suspected MS-13 leader extradited from Panama to Houston, TX to face racketeering trial for allegedly ordering the murder of a 17-year-old boy.

***  Alleged Crips member charged with murder in Elizabeth, NJ. 

***  The good people of Roselle, NJ have grown weary of the gang violence.

***  A dozen suspected degenerates from the Booby Hill gang are charged with violent crimes in Dayton, OH:  "'they have been identified as being involved in multiple felonious assaults, robberies and other gun violence,' Dayton Police Chief Richard Biehl said."

***  Two suspected Latin Kings members, a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old, are charged in the shooting death of a 6-year-old girl in Chicago, IL.

Gambino Associate Gets Sentencing Break

Manhattan federal judge Richard Berman was feeling the holiday spirit, and gave reputed Gambino associate Frank Roccaforte a break on his sentence for assault, drug dealing and bookmaking upon the 31-year-old's promise to settle down after getting out of the pokey as reported by Liz Sadler for the New York Post.  Roccaforte was facing up to 57 months but after a paternalistic lecture from Judge Berman got only 46 months:  "'You're getting close to real trouble, and this is the opportunity to turn your life around,' the judge said."

Of course, the so-called criminal justice system has been notoriously lenient with organized crime for decades.

In 2008 nearly 100 suspected mobsters were rounded up pursuant to a joint federal and local investigation dubbed Operation Pathfinder, and "yet only 17 of the 62 men charged in federal court remain behind bars" as reported by Alan Feuer for The New York Times:

Eighteen have finished their prison terms — some less than a year in length. Five received time served and periods of supervised release, and 21 were sentenced to probation or community service. The results were similar among those charged in state court in Queens; 18 of the 26 defendants never saw prison, having received either time served in jail or a conditional discharge, in which charges are dropped if the defendants' proverbial noses remain clean.

Similarly, in 1971 the New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Crime "conducted a study of 1,762 cases in state courts in the years 1960 through 1969 involving organized crime figures," and the results were shocking as reported by Nicholas Gage in a September 25, 1972 article ("Study Shows Courts Lenient With Mafiosi") for The New York Times:

The committee, whose chairman is Senator John H. Hughes of Syracuse, found that the rate of dismissals and acquittals for racketeers was five times that of other defendants. In New York City, 44.7 per cent of indictments against members of organized crime were dismissed by Supreme Court judges during the ten year period. Only 11.5 per cent of indictments against all defendants were dismissed, according to the study. In 193 instances where organized crime figures were actually convicted, the study showed that judges let the defendants off with suspended sentences or fines in 46 per cent of the cases.

Earlier this year the FBI inexplicably gutted its resources for targeting organized crime in the Big Apple notwithstanding that it has solved only a tiny fraction of mob-related murders, barely dented the operations of the powerful Genovese family and left most of the money on the table.

The mob fought the law, and the mob won.

Israeli Police: Illegals Found At Mobster's Bakery

Francois Abutbul, a reputed mob boss who stakes his claim in Netanya, Israel, was arrested last week "after a raid on his bakery found that his workers were illegal" as reported by Melanie Lidman for The Jerusalem Post: "When police arrived on the premises, they discovered that most of the workers were from the West Bank and in Israel illegally with no work permits."

Abutbul was released from prison just last December after serving two and a half years for assaulting his wife; however, not everyone welcomed his return to the streets as then reported by The Jerusalem Post: he "received a message from people in the underworld demanding that he leave the country of his life will be at risk, said police." Last summer three of his restaurants were torched "in what could be the opening salvo in renewed battles between crime organizations in the city" as then reported by Yaniv Kubovich for Haaretz.

Earlier this month reputed gangsters Shalom Domrani and Rico Shirazi were arrested on suspicion of planning to whack Abutbul. Although the pair was released for lack of evidence they nevertheless were slapped with a restraining order to keep them out of Natanya.

Weekly Gang Roundup

***  In Washington, D.C. eleven suspected members of MS-13 have been indicted on federal racketeering and other charges including one defendant who is accused of murdering a 14-year-old boy.

***  A suspected MS-13 member wanted for the alleged rape of an 8-year-old girl in Fairfax County, VA is apprehended in Houston, TX:  "His case highlighted flaws in the much-touted Secure Communities program that is supposed to keep dangerous illegal immigrants off the street."

***  Two MS-13 members sentenced to life in prison after conviction in a murder-for-hire scheme "cooked up over bad blood in Honduras that ended in gunfire in South Carolina":  "Jurors also convicted the two of returning to the United States after being deported . . . and being illegal immigrants carrying firearms."

*** The feds have variously indicted 31 people allegedly tied to the Latin Kings on charges including racketeering, murder and assault in Newburgh, NY:  "The murders involved three killings that came to symbolize the sense of lawlessness that has hovered over the city since about 2008, including the shooting of Jeffrey Zachary, 15, a bystander who was not a target."

***  Three major street gangs in Chicago, IL are putting aside rivalries and working together in the name of profit:  "Often gangs fight deadly turf war over the distribution of drugs, but investigators said three gangs, the Latin Kings, the Gangster Disciples, and Black P Stone, allegedly conspired to sell drugs in the city's south suburbs."

***  In Oxnard, CA the feds arrested 22 suspected members from the Colonia Chiques gang on drug trafficking charges:  "Formed in the 1970s, the gang has more than 1,000 documented members."

***  In Long Beach, CA local police nabbed 13 suspected members of the East Side Longo gang including two juveniles:  the gang is "believed to be responsible for six shootings in the area just within the last two months, including the attempted murder of two Long Beach Gang detectives."

***  Seven suspected members of the Click Clack Gang have been charged by the feds with drug trafficking in Kansas City, MO:  "The gang is said to have derived its name from the sound made by cocking a semi-automatic handgun."

***  In McAllen, TX thirteen suspected members of the Tri-City Bombers face federal drug charges for allegedly "moving loads of cocaine and ecstasy through the Rio Grande Valley."

***  Two alleged members from the Sureno 13 and San Chucos gangs hit with federal drug charges in Las Vegas, NV.

***  Leader of the Nine Trey Headbustas set of the Bloods gets twenty years for running "a drug-trafficking ring in Camden, NJ while behind bars."

***  Lending credence to the theory that being a gang member has a homoerotic component, reputed Hilltop Crips member is charged with banging his cellmate in Tacoma, WA.

***  In Pasco County, FL authorities have arrested 30 suspected rough boys including those from the Lock Street gang on various charges including murder, kidnapping, robbery, aggravated battery, drug trafficking and weapons trafficking.

Assault Charge Dropped Against Roberto Settineri

Citing a lack of evidence Miami-Dade prosecutors have dropped a state felony assault charge against Miami Beach, FL wine merchant Roberto Settineri who was sentenced last month to four years in prison on an unrelated federal conviction involving a scheme to destroy evidence and launder money for Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein as reported by David Ovalle for the Miami Herald.  U.S. and Italian authorities suspect that Settineri is an intermediary between the Gambino crime family and the Santa Maria de Gesu clan from Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia.