*** Nine defendants with suspected ties to an unidentified Hispanic prison gang have been charged with extortion for their alleged roles in imposing street taxes on drug dealers in Orange County, CA.
*** Gang members threaten to kill cops after police fatally shoot a Gangster Disciples in St. Paul, MN.
*** MS-13 member who raped 8-year-old girl after returning to the United States following an earlier deportation to El Salvador pleads guilty to illegal re-entry in Fairfax County, VA.
Alex Guerrero, a Chicagoan in his early 40s, was accused of robbing drug traffickers and turning over the proceeds to the Latin Kings. Guerrero and his former partner on the Chicago police force, Antonio Martinez Jr., allegedly used their police-issued unmarked vehicle, guns, body armor and badges to commit the crimes under the guise of legitimate police operations.
*** Nine Vice Lords members sentenced for gangland violence in Nashville, TN.
*** Two Mexican Mafia members plead guilty for their roles in the gang's drug operations in South Texas which included using threats and violence to extort a 10% street tax dubbed "the dime" on dealers.
*** Seven suspected Bloods charged with kidnapping a former member who wanted out of the gang in Bergen County, NJ.
*** Feds target the LRGP Crew in Buffalo, NY: "The LRGP has been designated a violent street gang and has been involved in drug dealing, street-level violence and the use of firearms," said Christopher M. Piehota, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Buffalo."
***Membership in street gangs is surging in communities across the country: "gangs have become so 'entrenched' in some of the nation's largest cities that gang-related crime is largely immune from forces that have been driving down overall crime."
***Street gangs like Facebook: "monitoring the social media activity of known and suspected gang members has become a key component of tracking gang activity."
Like the federal statute it was modeled after, the state legislation is rooted in the idea of the gang being a criminal enterprise and making it a crime to engage in a pattern of misconduct. The Illinois bill identifies dozens of illegal acts, from drugs and sex trafficking to weapons offenses and murder.
*** A leader with the Fruit Town and Brick City Brims set of the Bloods street gang gets 30 years for his role in murder of teenage boy mistaken for rival in Newark, NJ.
*** Feds charge suspected Latin Kings members with drug trafficking in New Bedford, MA:
In 2006, a similar investigation led to the prosecution of 37 Latin Kings members and associates, "significantly disrupting the gang for several years." In 2010, officials began to see an increase in violence and street-level drug sales in areas of New Bedford known to be occupied by the Latin Kings.
*** A soldier in the Forming Kaos pleads guilty to drug trafficking in Costa Mesa, CA: the FK is "an international operation engaged in narcotics trafficking, murder, extortion and assault," and tied to the Mexican Mafia.
Genovese-capo-turned-government-witness Anthony Arillotta took the stand for a second day in the racketeering trial against reputed soldier Emilio Fusco who is charged for his alleged role in the 2003 slayings of capo Adolfo Bruno and associate Gary Westerman in Springfield, MA as reported by Stephanie Barry for The Republican.
Fusco, a native Sicilian, sounds like a boss wannabe according to Arillotta's testimony. In 2001 the Genovese bosses in New York selected Bruno over Fusco to head the Springfield crew, and Bruno immediately stepped up the game in town by extorting protection money from bars and restaurants and exacting a street tax from bookies and loan sharks. Arillotta testified that the underling Fusco blessed the racket expansions: "'He liked the idea. He said that's how they do things in Italy and they should have done that a long time ago,' Arillotta recounted."
Federal prosecutors allege that Fusco later lobbied the New York bosses to whack Bruno upon his purported concern that the Springfield capo was cooperating with law enforcement.
*** Nine suspected True Bloods 22 gang members charged for their alleged roles in raping a 14-year-old girl in St. Paul, MN.
*** Bloods member gets 50 years in prison on murder conviction for shooting 12-year-old boy in the back whom he mistakenly believed was a rival Crips member in Seattle, WA.
*** Bloods member gets 60 years in prison on murder conviction for ordering 15-year-old boy to kill as part of a gang initiation in Passaic, NJ.
*** A Crips gangbanger gunned down outside bar in Queens, NY.
*** A gang member convicted of whacking tax collector on orders of the Mexican Mafia in Santa Fe Springs, CA: "the hit was ordered by the prison-based gang because the victim was allegedly collecting 'taxes' from a drug dealer when he wasn't the designated collector of the money, according to Deputy District Attorney Brock Lunsford."
*** Reputed Big Hazard member gets 31 years for killing gang's shotcaller "who had direct ties to the Mexican Mafia" in Los Angeles, CA.
*** The feds continue their assault against the Texas Mexican Mafia. In the San Antonio area multiple defendants are charged with extorting "money from methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana traffickers operating in Hondo, Poteet and Pearsall through the collection of a 10 percent drug tax, also known as 'the dime.'" Meanwhile, in Alamo, three suspected Texas Mexican Mafia members are charged for allegedly smuggling black tar heroin over the Rio Grande.
*** Seven suspected MS-13 members are charged with racketeering involving drugs and murder in Houston, TX: "defendants are accused of dividing Houston into cliques, smaller groups that operated in regions of the city and held regular meetings to discuss gang rules and criminal activity as well as collect dues." A 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy were among their alleged murder victims.
*** A Crips member is convicted for "Papi Hunting" in Plainfield, NJ which is "a slang term used to describe targeted muggings of Latino men and women."
*** The feds bust the crack peddling Elm Street Wolves and Cliff Street Gangsters in Yonkers, NY: "Prosecutors described the gangs as two of the most powerful in Yonkers and said the arrests signaled the start of a crackdown that will lead to other arrests in connection with gang activity."
*** Dump Squad leader gets six life terms plus sixty years in Norfolk, VA: "'This is one of the few cases that I've been involved with that … the individual enjoyed killing people,' said Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Bradenham. 'He went out of his way to kill people.... He shot people that were unarmed and unaware.'"
*** Top 6 leader gets sixty-five years after racketeering conviction in West Palm Beach, FL: "Chief Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Brian Fernandes argued that Top 6 was a criminal enterprise involved in narcotics-related crime that beseiged areas of Lake Worth and parts of Palm Beach County."
*** A granny is among those arrested by police in a raid against the 1200 Blocc Crips in Riverside, CA: "the 147-member, all-black street gang has been involved in deadly assaults, drug trafficking, store robberies and home invasions."
