Gangs, Guns & Supervision

In the News

Responding to a bloodbath of violence over the weekend, Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy said Monday that he's seeing an "uptick" in gang conflicts - and will soon provide beat cops with better information about gangs to stop retaliatory shootings. Gangs were responsible for almost all of the 37 shootings and nine murders from Friday through Sunday, McCarthy said. When he took over as superintendent almost a year ago, gangs represented about half the firearm violence, but now they're to blame for more than 80 percent of it, McCarthy said. "They are splintering off into smaller gang factions and it's getting more difficult for us to track and predict what's going to happen next," he said. McCarthy said he's launching "gang audits" in each of the city's police districts. One audit is going on in the Chicago Lawn district on the Southwest Side where Latino gangs have been warring. Beat cops and gang officers have been meeting over maps to chart the turf and membership of gangs in the district, McCarthy said. That information will be merged with gang intelligence from the police department's existing databases, he said. The detailed information about gang membership will be available to officers in their beat cars, McCarthy said. "What we haven't done well enough is get in front of the retaliatory shootings," he said. McCarthy spoke to reporters about an hour after Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a terse statement

about his concern over the recent spate of shootings. "The violence this past weekend is unacceptable to me and every law-abiding Chicago resident," Emanuel said. " Our streets belong to the families and children of our city, not to the gangs and gangbangers. "The violence this weekend underscores that Chicago has a unique gang problem, and I have discussed with Superintendent McCarthy a citywide anti-gang strategy similar to the successful strategy CPD recently used with the Maniac Latin Disciples." Chicago Police officers arrested more than 1,800 members of the Maniac Latin Disciples gang between June and the end of February after McCarthy declared war on them for shooting and wounding two young girls by mistake at a Northwest Side park. The Fraternal Order of Police also reacted to the weekend violence, pointing to a "manpower crisis" and a change in policing strategy ordered by McCarthy. "Sooner or later, McCarthy has to admit that the Chicago Police Department is in a manpower crisis," union president Mike Shields said. "We cannot adequately police this city with this shortage of officers on the street. "This is the first warm weather weekend, and already we've seen the results of the department's inability to proactively fight crime." McCarthy has shifted about 1,000 additional officers to working in patrol cars since he took office. "The shortage of officers and the shift from aggressive policing to racing from one 911 call to the next in a beat car has had a dramatic effect on the increase in violence in the city," Shields said. But McCarthy said there isn't a pressing need for more cops.

"Crime reduction is not a matter of how many officers we have but how they are deployed, what they do and how hard they are working," he said.According to the department, there have been 94 murders so far this year - compared to 66 for the same period of 2011. There were 408 non-fatal shootings, compared to 296 last year. Overall crime has fallen about 11 percent over that same period, McCarthy said. If the overall number went up along with murders and shootings, McCarthy said he would be "overwhelmingly concerned." "We are going to turn it around," he said of the firearm violence.

WASHINGTON—A Barrio Azteca (BA) gang leader was sentenced to life in prison without parole for his participation in a racketeering conspiracy, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman for the Western District of Texas, FBI Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigative Division Kevin Perkins and Administrator Michele M. Leonhart of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Roberto Angel Cardona, aka “Little Angelillo,” of El Paso, Texas, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone in the Western District of Texas, El Paso Division. Cardona pleaded guilty on Aug. 2, 2011. “This sentence reflects the severity of Roberto Cardona’s crimes as a leader of the brutal Barrio Azteca gang, as well as his individual acts of violence and drug trafficking,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer. “On both sides of the border, Barrio Azteca gang members use violence, intimidation and fear to further their illegal activities. Lengthy prison sentences are an appropriate consequence and should cause would-be gang members to think twice about participating in such destructive activities.” “The violent activities of Barrio Azteca members are representative of the dangers of drug trafficking,” said U.S. Attorney Pitman. “This sentence represents our response and our continued dedication to fighting senseless acts of violence and organized drug dealing in our communities.” “This sentence is a powerful step taken against trans-border violence, one that the FBI’s El Paso Field Office has taken with partners at the federal, state, and local levels,” said FBI Assistant Director Perkins. “Gangs like the Barrio Azteca represent threats to both Mexico and the United States, and together we have supported each other to investigate and prosecute criminals who affect us on both sides of the border.” “The sentencing of Barrio Azteca leader Roberto Cardona is a victory for both U.S. and Mexican law enforcement,” said

DEA Administrator Leonhart. “Together, we will relentlessly pursue violent drug organizations, their leaders and gang members who brutally destroy lives on both sides of the border.” According to court documents and testimony, the BA gang began in the late 1980s as a violent prison gang and has expanded into a transnational criminal organization. The BA is primarily based in West Texas; Juarez, Mexico; and throughout state and federal prisons in the United States and Mexico. According to court documents and testimony, members and associates of the BA have engaged in a host of criminal activity committed since Jan. 1, 2003, including drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, kidnapping, and murder, including the March 13, 2010, murders in Juarez of U.S. consulate employee Leslie Ann Enriquez Catton, her husband Arthur Redelfs and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, the husband of a U.S. consulate employee. The BA profits by importing heroin, cocaine and marijuana into the United States from Mexico. Gang members and associates also charge a “street tax” or “cuota” on businesses and criminals operating in their turf. These profits are used to support gang members in prison by funneling money into prison commissary accounts of gang leaders and to pay for defense lawyers or fines. The “cuota” profits are also allegedly reinvested into the organization to purchase drugs, guns and ammunition. According to testimony presented at sentencing, Cardona was a leader in the Barrio Azteca gang. Specifically, he was the El Paso BA leader in 2010 until he was arrested on drug charges on April 30, 2010. He also participated in the BA’s activities by distributing narcotics, including heroin and cocaine, and collected extortion funds that were sent to the commissary accounts of fellow BA members in prison. One witness testified that Cardona ordered beatings of fellow BA members and personally assaulted a drug dealer who would not pay extortion money. Witnesses testified that BA members used weapons in the course of violence and regularly carried guns at meetings. At sentencing, a witness testified about personally attending a meeting where Cardona ordered extortions, assaults and kidnappings. The witness testified that Cardona contacted him for the purposes of kidnapping someone in El Paso and delivering him to Juarez. According to testimony,

Cardona arranged for the witness and others to meet with the victim, assault him, drug him, bind him and transport him to Juarez. The court also found that Cardona’s offense involved more than 30 kilograms of heroin and 150 kilograms of cocaine. Cardona directly imported large quantities of these drugs and sold them to retail drug dealers. Thirty-five members and associates of the BA gang, including Cardona and 18 others who have pleaded guilty, were charged in a third superseding indictment unsealed in March 2011 with various counts of racketeering, murder, drug offenses, money laundering and obstruction of justice. Trial is set to begin April 6, 2012. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Joseph A. Cooley of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, Trial Attorney Brian Skaret of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Texas-El Paso Division. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico provided significant assistance in this case, including Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Davenport. Valuable assistance was provided by the Criminal Division’s Offices of International Affairs and Enforcement Operations. The investigation in this case was led and conducted by the FBI’s El Paso Field Office. Special assistance was provided by the DEA; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Federal Bureau of Prisons; U.S. Diplomatic Security Service; the Texas Department of Public Safety; the Texas Department of Criminal Justice; El Paso Police Department; El Paso County Sheriff’s Office; El Paso Independent School District Police Department; Texas Alcohol and Beverage Commission; New Mexico State Police; Dona Ana County, N.M., Sheriff’s Office; Las Cruces, N.M., Police Department; Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility and Otero County Prison Facility New Mexico.

Three people were arrested Friday during a probation sweep in Thousand Oaks as part of an ongoing gang crimes and drug offenses crack down, officials said. Nayeli Flores, 26 of Thousand Oaks, was arrested on suspicion of

being in possession of heroin and a smoking device and being under the influence of a controlled substance, Ventura County Sheriff's officials said. In addition, a 33-year-old Oxnard woman was arrested on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled

substance, and an 18-year-old Thousand Oaks man was arrested for a warrant. All three people were booked into Ventura County jail, officials said.

JOLIET, IL. — Two men were arrested on drug charges during a parole sweep Wednesday morning. About 5 a.m., Joliet police and Department of Corrections officers went to the residences of several gang members to confirm they were complying with the conditions of their early release. According to reports, Dominique Woodard was found with 66 grams of marijuana and an electronic scale,

while Deondray Hall had 9 grams of marijuana and a small amount
of crack cocaine.
Woodard, 21, of 308 N. Briggs St., was paroled Nov. 9 from a five-year sentence from 2008 for delivery of a controlled substance and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon in Will County. He was charged with delivery of cannabis and $400 was seized during his arrest.

Hall, 20, of 420 White Ave., had been on parole since June from a four-year sentence for burglary and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon from 2008 in Will County.
He was charged with possession of a controlled substance and possession of cannabis. Police seized $390 during his arrest, they said.

The MS-13 gang got its start among immigrants from El Salvador in the 1980s. Since then, the gang has built operations in 42 states, mostly out West and in the Northeastern United States, where members typically deal in drugs and weapons.
But in Fairfax County, Va., one of the wealthiest places in the country, authorities have brought five cases in the past year that focus on gang members who have pushed women, sometimes very young women, into prostitution.
"We all know that human trafficking is an issue around the world," says Neil MacBride, the top federal prosecutor in the area. "We hear about child brothels in Thailand and brick kilns in India, but it's something that's in our own backyard, and in the last year we've seen street gangs starting to move into sex trafficking."
Weapons and paraphernalia from gangs are displayed during a news conference in 2006. Authorities in Fairfax, Va., have brought five prostitution cases in the past year against gangs.

Eleven arrests were made in a probation, parole and warrant sweep conducted Tuesday by Marysville police, Yuba County probation officers and state Department of Corrections agents, police spokesman Chris Sachs said.

The arrests came during 119 compliance checks throughout the city of Marysville. Included were checks on about 50 people wanted on outstanding driving under the influence arrest warrants. "This combined effort between agencies allows us to have the resources to make our

community a safer place and will continue in the future," Sachs said.
"This combined effort between agencies allows us to have the resources to make our community a safer place and will continue in the future," Sachs said. As a result of compliance checks seven individuals were arrested on charges including:
- Parole violation and being a felon in possession of ammunition.
- Parole violation and possession of falsified government documents.
- Outstanding parole and Yuba County probation warrants.
- Harboring a known wanted fugitive.

- Harboring a known wanted fugitive and outstanding Sutter County warrant.
- Possession of drug paraphernalia.
- Parole violation; possession of firearms, knives, brass knuckles and ammunition.
Another four were arrested on outstanding driving under the influence warrants.

A tip led investigators to a paroled felon's South Los Angeles home where they found a weapons cache that included an AK-47 assault rifle, a Ruger .223 caliber Mini-14 rifle and a .45 caliber pistol, a sheriff's lieutenant said Saturday. There were also numerous rounds for each weapon and spare magazines for both rifles, loaded with live rounds, at the home of Luis Placido, 31, in the 11200

block of Grape Street, said sheriff's Lt. Richard Westin of the department's Operations Safe Streets Bureau. With the permission of Placido's parole agent, detectives drove to his home Thursday night to find the cache. Placido, an admitted member of a local street gang who was on parole for assaulting a police officer with a firearm, was confined to his home and ordered to wear a global positioning system sensor to his ankle, Westin said.

Placido was arrested and booked at the sheriff's Century Regional Detention Facility where he was being held without bail, due to his parole status. Westin said the investigation into the origin of the weapons and how Placido came to possess them was ongoing.

A joint gang suppression operation by law enforcement in south Monterey County on Thursday saw the arrest of eight people and nearly a dozen parole and probation searches, Soledad police said. The CalGRIP operation, which lasted about six hours, was conducted in Soledad, Greenfield, Gonzales, King City, San Ardo and Chualar, police said. They said those involved in the sweep were Soledad, Gonzales, Greenfield, Hollister and King City police departments, the Monterey

County Sheriff’s Office, Monterey County Probation, California State Parole, the California Department of Correction and Rehabilitation, and the U.S. Marshals Service.
Police said besides the arrest, officers conducted 10 parole and probation searches and made about 80 vehicle and pedestrian stops. As part of the operation, they said, community mobilization took place in Soledad, Greenfield and King City. Police said representatives of the “Peacemakers,” which is associated with the Social Outreach Services and clergy councils, passed out 1,207 peacemaker fliers, and visited

451 homes and 14 businesses. They said the peacemakers also spoke to 463 residents. The mobilization aspect is a vital part of the “Four Cities For Peace” initiative, which deals with suppression, prevention and intervention efforts. Thursday’s operation was the effort’s 17th since the initiative began to address youth and gang violence in south Monterey County.