[7] They are involved in drug smuggling, murder, assault and robbery. "It was important that Castellanos not be let out, because he holds sway over gang members to do things they would otherwise not want to do," Hernandez said. Other edicts allegedly issued by Castellanos guided Florencia 13 into a turf battle against rival gangs. Luis De La Rosa Rios, Jesse Contreras, Ernesto Cisneros and Haylee Grisham have been charged in federal court with Arroyos killing. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, That night, Fazah, Dorado, and other F13 Gang members lured the victim into an alley and attacked him. With the four convictions last summer, a total of 25 defendants have been convicted in the case (one charged defendant died, and the other four remain fugitives). Acting United States Attorney Harrington said, The United States Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Washington commends the law enforcement officers with the federal and local agencies who investigated this case. [9] The conflict was triggered by the theft by East Coast Crips of a large amount of drugs from Florencia 13 members. The marijuana count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison (10 years if the defendant has a prior narcotics conviction) and a statutory maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. The gang is named after the Florence area of Los Angeles County, controlled by the Mexican Mafia. We are Emeros (Mexican Mafia members) and we expect that these reglas are followed and respected by all true south-side Florencianos and Florencianas.. The indictment unsealed today focuses on how the gang has generated illicit profits through the sale of drugs and firearms, fraud, and extortion. Over the years, demographic and social shifts have weakened many street gangs and caused some to die out altogether. Menace, shot and wounded a fellow F13 member to discipline him at one of the gangs casitas, or illegal gambling houses. That order, which wascommunicated during a recorded call over the LACJ inmate telephone system, included instructions both to beat the victim severely and to kill him. 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. 312 North Spring Street
Gang members have been charged with offenses ranging. Suite 1200
News Florencia 13 Gang Member Arrested on Rico Charges Latino Gang Members Indicted for 'Cleansing' Operation 3 Gang Members Charged With Race Killing It was crazy -- really crazy.. Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. Three years after the Florencia indictment, residents say, a measure of calm has come to Florence-Firestone. Out of the 36 defendants named in the six indictments, 11 were arrested today, 16 were already in custody, and authorities are searching for nine fugitives. The gang is now at the center of the killing earlier this month of an off-duty Los Angeles police officer. The rules, written in a cramped hand, state that every Florencia-13 clique should elect by majority vote a president and vice president, who were to hold weekly meetings. "There's a fascination with gangs," said founder Alfred Lomas, a former member of the Florencia 13 gang. 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. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images). (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images). Dorado and Fazah also were found guilty of possessing a controlled substance with the intent to distribute it (heroin and methamphetamine, respectively) and of each being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Four Members and Associates of the Florencia 13 Gang Convicted of Indictments Point To Prison Hunger Strike Leader As Leader Of Florencia As Castellanos letters appeared on the street in the fall and winter of 2004, Florencia 13 erupted in a spate of violence against African Americans. Florencia-13 members were forbidden from extorting paisas slanging in the hood a reference, Velasquez testified, to Mexican nationals selling drugs in the gangs territory. 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. Twenty-six members and associates of the gang allegedly conspired to violate RICO and engaged in drug trafficking, illegal gambling, attempted murder and assault. The edict led to indiscriminate shootings of Black and Latino residents, as Florencia-13 members prowled the streets for targets and East Coast Crips committed retaliatory shootings of their own, witnesses testified. U.S. Attorney's Office, Central District of California, Environmental Crimes and Community Safety, Federal Indictments Target South Los Angeles Street Gang Involved in Drug Trafficking, Extortion and Attempted Murder, 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. There were seven members of the Florencia 13 group, including the five arrested and charged, and the two still on the run identified by the initials A.G. and L.M. Rene Enriquez, a former Mexican Mafia leader who is cooperating with federal prosecutors, said Castellanos brazen style suggests he wants to be indicted and sent to federal prison where he can enjoy a host of privileges banned at Pelican Bay, including monthly phone calls and freedom of movement in a general population facility. 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. The former head of Wells Fargo Banks retail banking division has agreed to plead guilty to obstructing a government examination into the banks widespread sales practices misconduct, which included opening A resident of the Westside of Los Angeles pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for using websites and apps such as Snapchat to meet and entice children to engage A South Bay man who along with three other accomplices victimized a 15-year-old girl by creating sexually explicit videos of her has been sentenced to 220 months in Central District of California
Those rules and letters from Castellanos attempted to adhere those prison rules to the street, he said. Killing of LAPD officer brings scrutiny on one of L.A.'s oldest and 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. Luis Alfredo De La Rosa Rios, 29; Ernesto Cisneros, 22; Jesse Contreras, 34; and Rios girlfriend, 18-year-old Haylee Marie Grisham, were charged in federal court with violent crime in aid of racketeering, which carries a potential death penalty and minimum sentence of life in federal prison without the possibility of parole. The suspects were alleged members of Florencia 13, and are facing murder and attempted murder charges.[12]. During the course of this investigation, authorities seized more than 600 pounds of methamphetamine and charged an additional six defendants in state court. By combining law enforcement resources, we were able to curtail their ability to build alliances and prevent their violence from spreading further into our communities.. The Queen of Florencia - Los Angeles Magazine LEXINGTON, Ky. - Senior Florencia Urrutia has been named a member of the Second Team All-Southeastern Conference, the conference announced on Thursday. 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. Los Angeles, California 90012. The documents unsealed this week call Arturo Castellanos a Mexican Mafia member and the undisputed leader of the Florencia 13 criminal street gang in south Los Angeles County. Arturo Cruz, 34, was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Chief Cosme Lozano of the Huntington Park Police Department said: We are extremely pleased with the outcome of this investigation and the conviction of the suspects. Their seamless partnership resulted in the successful outcome of this matter. A locked padlock A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. 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 gangs illegal activities. . The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation provided substantial assistance. 12 Gangs on the FBI's Radar - Business Insider Click on text to read a print version of the note. 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. Before joining The Times in 2018, he covered city news and state politics at the Hartford Courant. Times staff writer Amina Khan contributed to this report. Peter Hernandez, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who handled an earlier Mexican Mafia investigation, said the government at that time concluded it was safer to keep Castellanos in isolation and not pull him out of Pelican Bay for court hearings in Los Angeles, which would have been required had he been indicted. Years of violent conflict over that territory with other gangs lent Florencia an identity and reason for being. 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. In April 2017, one defendant, Samuel Flores Mejia, a.k.a. East Coast Crips responded with shootings of their own, often targeting Latinos who were not gang members. 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. [7] They are involved in drug smuggling, murder, assault and robbery. View more property details, sales history and Zestimate data on Zillow. Authorities arrested 11 members and associates of the South Los Angeles-based Florencia 13. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. The Sheriffs Department added about 30 deputies, and last year it brought an injunction against Florencia. Florencia 13 Gang Member Sentenced to 160 Months in Federal Prison Drug Enforcement Administration Jacob D. Galvan, Acting Special Agent in Charge Seattle @DEASeattleDiv July 01, 2021 Contact: Phone Number: (571) 387-3831 For Immediate Release Florencia 13 Gang Member Sentenced to 160 Months in Federal Prison How Palm Springs ran out Black and Latino families to build a fantasy for rich, white people, 17 SoCal hiking trails that are blooming with wildflowers (but probably not for long! The particular charge that prosecutors have brought against the four violent crime in aid of racketeering means they must make the case that the defendants robbed and murdered Arroyos to maintain or increase their standing within Florencia-13. All rights reserved. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF. 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. Killing of LAPD officer brings scrutiny on one of L.A.'s oldest and Deon Joseph urges officials to stop making police the enemy and invest in crime control on The Story.. Jose Dorado, also known as Yogi, 35, and Tannous Fazah, aka Terrorist, 27, both of Huntington Park, were F13 gang soldiers who, among other things, participated in the murder of a junior member of the gang. 42-ranked singles player in NCAA Division I Women's Tennis with an overall season record of 22-13. ATF remains steadfast in its stance to disrupt organized gang activity and seek prosecution of anyone who chooses to offend at will, denying law abiding citizens a community or workplace free from violence.. 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. Florence-Firestone, with a population of 60,000, had 43 homicides in 2005. A contested sentencing hearing was held June 30, 2021, and Chief Bastian found that, shortly after Leon's release from state custody on the drive-by shooting conviction in November 2017, Leon immediately began new criminal conduct to include the distribution of large quantities of pills containing fentanyl and heroin. These two investigations disrupted the criminal activities of the Mexican Mafia, the Los Angeles street gang Florencia 13, and the Mexican Mafias relationship with the La Familia drug cartel, which is responsible for using firearms to commit violent crimes and trafficking hundreds of thousands of pounds of controlled substances into the United States, Said Steven J. Bogdalek, ATF Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles Field Division. 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. How Imprisoned Mexican Mafia Leader Exerts Secret Control Over L.A Had it been an incorporated city, that rate would have ranked it among the nations worst. Arturo Castellanos has been incarcerated since 1979 for a murder conviction. LAPD officer Fernando Arroyos, 27, was gunned downin South Los Angeles during an attempted robbery while he was looking at houses with his girlfriend Jan. 10. Killing of LAPD officer brings scrutiny on one of L.A.'s - Police1 The 2,133 sq. Leon pled guilty to two out of the three federal indictments. He hasnt been on the streets since 1979. Suite 1200
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. Now we have demonstrated our ability to stop the Mexican Mafia from realizing a new power base by disrupting the gangs plot to establish a threatening alliance with a major drug trafficking organization.. Secure .gov websites use HTTPS "We can either address the issue head-on, create awareness and discuss the positive things . This indictment charges 31 defendants and alleges violations of the federal racketeering (RICO) statute, as well as a host of narcotics, firearms, and fraud offenses. One of the indictments unsealed today alleges that defendants linked to the gang trafficked methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine and other drugs in their territory and attempted to smuggle narcotics into the state prison system. 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.