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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. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times. 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. 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. 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 gang also operates casitas, underground casinos hidden inside South Los Angeles homes and apartments, which each generated about $300 a week in taxes for the gang, the indictment says. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. MLS # 1679310 Rincon was accused of authorizing -- along with others -- the execution of Florencia 13 gang member Johnny Ibarra because he killed a fellow gang member without permission, according to prosecutors. 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. A liquor store whose supply cases are being robbed of beer, a shopkeeper whose business is being graffitied, a barkeep whose patrons are being harassed, will sometimes offer to pay a Mexican Mafia member for protection, the former gang member said. It was crazy -- really crazy.. 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.. Although these violent criminal street gangs continue to exist today, joint law enforcement endeavors such as this are proven to be effective and further collaboration with our Federal partners is welcomed., The evidence at trial showed, among other things, that Dorado and Fazah received an order from an incarcerated, senior F13 Gang member to violently discipline a junior member of the gang. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7c0660170e4a056a Legal Statement. Los Angeles, California 90012. This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles Police Department. 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. Luis De La Rosa Rios, Jesse Contreras, Ernesto Cisneros and Haylee Grisham have been charged in federal court with Arroyos' killing. The indictment concerning the Mexican Mafia-La Familia Project represents the largest crackdown on the prison gangs members since the United States Attorneys Office brought a series of RICO cases against the leadership of the prison gang in the 1990s. Central District of California | Federal Indictments Target South Los The Sheriffs Department has also targeted Florencias rivals, said Capt. Running a criminal organization while locked inside one of America's most secure prisons requires imagination, cunning and ruthlessness. Southside Florencia (F13) in Florence / South Los Angeles [9] The conflict was triggered by the theft by East Coast Crips of a large amount of drugs from Florencia 13 members. This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. Cartel Initiated Alliance with Prison Gang that is also Targeted in Second Indictment for Exercising Control Over Large South L.A. County Street Gang. The gang is named after the Florence area of Los Angeles County, controlled by the Mexican Mafia. Years of violent conflict over that territory with other gangs lent Florencia an identity and reason for being. Todays salvo against the Mexican Mafia is part of a 20-year fight to curb the influence of the prison gang both inside prison walls and on the streets of Southern California, said United States Attorney Andr Birotte Jr. We successfully dismantled the gangs leadership structure in prior cases, causing chaos throughout the organization. Other edicts allegedly issued by Castellanos guided Florencia 13 into a turf battle against rival gangs. 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. 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. Gang members have been charged with offenses ranging. The violence left dozens of people dead, including many with no gang affiliation, and required enormous county resources to combat. "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. The Joint Regional Intelligence Center provided support during the investigation. 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. Leaders of the hunger strike, including Castellanos, only agreed to call off the protest after California lawmakers promised hearings and possible legislation to address complaints about prison gang policy and isolation units. 3 dozen LA gang members arrested in major sweep The conspiracy charge and the counts related to methamphetamine each carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison (20 years if the defendant has a prior drug conviction, which may affect about half of the defendants in the indictment) and a maximum statutory sentence of life without parole. Secure .gov websites use HTTPSA lock ( 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. 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. LOS ANGELES A coalition of federal, state and local authorities this morning arrested eight defendants named in a federal grand jury indictment that outlines an alliance between the Mexican Mafia prison gang and the La Familia Michoacna drug cartel that sought to protect and expand the cartels drug trafficking activities across the nation. 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. He hasnt been on the streets since 1979. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. The lead defendant in RICO indictment Leonel Laredo, a.k.a. Official websites use .gov Why is Frank McCourt really pushing this? Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Instead, residents said, they lived amid a race war. Six Florencia 13 gang members sentenced to life in prison Official websites use .govA .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. 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. They just went out and started shooting at black people, Hernandez said. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. 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. The illegal contraband included methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, and cell phones. Grisham, the girlfriend of Rios, is described as a gang associate. A second indictment unsealed this morning concerns the Mexican Mafia and its control over the Florencia 13 criminal street gang in south Los Angeles County. 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. Climate change sparks disaster fears, Police manhunt continues for suspect in Texas mass shooting, A powerhouse U.S. doctor slain in Sudan, killed for nothing, In final Mass in Budapest, pope urges Hungary to open doors. In April 2017, one defendant, Samuel Flores Mejia, a.k.a. That night, Fazah, Dorado, and other F13 Gang members lured the victim into an alley and attacked him. 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. Los Angeles Police officers attend a candlelight vigil for fallen Officer Fernando Arroyos, who was shot and killed during an armed robbery attempt outside the Olympic Community Police Station Jan. 12, 2022, in Los Angeles. The Mexican Mafia's influence on the streets stems in part from its power inside California jails and prisons. All rights reserved. Two male Florencia members, aged 19 and 20, were arrested for involvement in the incident. The Southern California Drug Task Force is comprised of federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the DEA, the ATF, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Pasadena Police Department.