The three men are members of Florencia-13, according to the FBI. The letter outlines rules, or reglas, drawn up by Mexican Mafia members for associates operating on the streets. 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. The investigation into Florencia 13 was led by ATF and included the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Huntington Park Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department. The prison-based syndicate is also known as La Eme, Spanish for M, the 13th letter of the alphabet. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Castellanos was not indicted because he is already serving a life prison term in a maximum security cell in Pelican Bay State Prison. because they are minors. 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. "F13 is a large, multi-generational street gang that previously has been the subject of federal prosecutions, including two large racketeering cases," the DOJ said. 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. The Times reported earlier this month that Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva asked federal authorities to handle the situation because he didn't believe Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon's office would be tough enough. The officer collapsed in an alley, mortally wounded. This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. Florencia-13 tag on a stop sign on Florence Ave. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. 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. ndiscriminate shootings of Black and Latino residents. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. It was crazy -- really crazy.. The 2,133 sq. Prosecutors alleged that Mexican Mafia member Arturo Tablas Castellanos essentially created a crime wave in the Florence-Firestone district. 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. 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. 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. A locked padlock ), At Willie Nelson 90, country, rock and rap stars pay tribute, but Willie and Trigger steal the show, Plaschke: Lakers live up to their legacy with a close-out win for the ages, Concertgoer lets out a loud full body orgasm while L.A. Phil plays Tchaikovskys 5th, L.A. Affairs: I had my reasons for not dating white men. 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. LOS ANGELES - Two Huntington Park men who are members of the Florencia 13 street gang and participated in the murder of another gang member have been sentenced to life without parole in federal prison after being convicted at trial of racketeering, narcotics, and weapons offenses.. Jose Dorado, also known as "Yogi," 35, and Tannous Fazah, aka "Terist," 27, were sentenced on Monday by . 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. 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. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Many of the victims, Black and Latino, had no gang affiliations. The indictment alleges that participants in the Project sought to give La Familia members free rein to sell methamphetamine in Southern California and to provide protection for incarcerated cartel members in exchange for money and methamphetamine going to Mexican Mafia members. Three of the defendants were previously arrested in this case before todays enforcement activities, and eight are fugitives. Arturo. The Sheriffs Department has also targeted Florencias rivals, said Capt. A secret letter allegedly sent from an inmate at Pelican Bay State Prison in Northern California to members of Florencia 13, a multi-generational street gang in south Los Angeles, details a covert network that has enriched the states most powerful prison gang, the Mexican Mafia. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. Two more gang members are scheduled to be sentenced later this month. Jim Hellmold, supervisor of the departments Century Division, where Florence-Firestone is located. Deon Joseph urges officials to stop making police the enemy and invest in crime control on The Story.. 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. 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. (213) 894-4465. Click on text to read a print version of the note. Official websites use .gov Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. LA SHERIFF ASKS FEDS TO HANDLE PROSECUTION IN OFF-DUTY COP SHOOTING OVER CONCERNS DA TOO LENIENT: REPORT. The verdicts remove these violent defendants from our community and deal an important blow against the Florencia 13 gangs campaign of drugs and violence., Dorado and Fazah alone were found guilty of conspiring to commit a Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) for a gang-related beating in Huntington Park that ultimately led to the shooting death of the victim. 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. In time it absorbed smaller gangs, many of which became cliques, or subsets, of Florencia-13. Arturo Cruz, 34, was sentenced to 60 years in prison. 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. LOS ANGELES Two key operatives of the Florencia 13 street gang were sentenced this week to life without parole in federal prison. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Its common, authorities say, for members of the gang to have followed an uncle, a father or a grandfather into it. . 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. The illegal contraband included methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, and cell phones. Two male Florencia members, aged 19 and 20, were arrested for involvement in the incident. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. At the time of sentencing, all defendants will face a statutory maximum sentence of life imprisonment on the RICO Conspiracy and Drug Trafficking Conspiracy counts, as well as mandatory minimum prison terms of 10 years based on the amounts of methamphetamine at issue. ATF is committed and dedicated to removing violent criminals like these from our society for life. 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). Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, Wildfires in Anchorage? Florencia did the opposite, law enforcement officials say, absorbing smaller gangs and expanding their extortion and drug dealing rackets on the orders of its leaders, who are incarcerated many hundreds of miles away. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. 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.. A note that was written on a small scrap of paper known as a kite, smuggled out of prison and then recopied in larger print, lays out specific rules for Mexican Mafia members on the street. 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. These shot callers were then ordered to coordinate the illegal distribution of drugs and other criminal activities, to ensure that extortionate taxes were collected, and otherwise to oversee their respective portions of the gangs territory, such as by resolving disputes both among F13 gang members and associates and with members of other Los Angeles gangs, the indictment states. Members of the Latino Florencia 13 gang have left their tag at numerous places along a stretch of Florence Avenue in the Florence area of L.A. County. 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. An additional six defendants were already in custody prior to todays takedown in connection with state charges. For a monthly payment, typically between $200 and $250, he said, members of Florencia-13 and other gangs are warned that the business is under the auspices of a Mexican Mafia member. The defendants charged today are: Luis Alfredo De La Rosa Rios, 29, an F13 member also known as "Lil J"; Ernesto Cisneros, 22, an F13 member also known as "Gonzo"; Jesse Contreras, 34, an F13 member who claimed a moniker of "Skinny Jack," but who also may be known as "Flaco"; and Haylee Marie Grisham, 18, who is Rios' girlfriend. East Coast Crips responded with shootings of their own, often targeting Latinos who were not gang members. 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. They called themselves Florencia, after the east-west thoroughfare that ran through the heart of their territory. ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. The dealers were already paying off the Florencia-13 leadership and supplying them with cocaine, he testified. 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. Instead, residents said, they lived amid a race war. 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,. 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 prison system is a segregated place. 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. Secure .gov websites use HTTPSA lock ( The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation provided substantial assistance. Things have gotten a lot better, said Chris Le Grande, pastor of Great Hope Missionary Baptist Church on Compton Avenue in Florence-Firestone. "We're going to miss him a lot. Arturo Castellanos has been incarcerated since 1979 for a murder conviction. Members of the Latino Florencia 13 gang have left their tag at numerous places along a stretch of Florence Avenue in the Florence area of L.A. County. A California law says yes. 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 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. Arturo Castellanos has been incarcerated since 1979 for a murder conviction. According to evidence presented at a racketeering trial in 2008, Arturo Castellanos, through a series of letters sent from prison, ordered his gang to attack members of the East Coast Crips, who claim a strip of South Los Angeles east of the 110 freeway. Based out of South . How street gangs and their sub-groups are governed, including the election of a president and vice president by majority votes.. A locked padlock (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images). Secure .gov websites use HTTPS Luis De La Rosa Rios, Jesse Contreras, Ernesto Cisneros and Haylee Grisham have been charged in federal court with Arroyos' killing. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Terrence P. Mann, Sheila Nagaraj and Victoria Degtyareva. Judge Bastian sentenced Leon to 100 months on the firearms offense and a consecutive 60 months on the contraband offense. "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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 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.
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