GANGLAND GODFATHER

An Oakland-affiliated gang member had performed a "turf dance" on the Library dance floor that enraged members of the Fourth Avenue Bloods, or FABS.Some of the FABs attacked him, according to court testimony. Bouncers hustled the combatants outside. In the parking lot, the Oakland man who had been pummeled on the dance floor tried to run over the Sacramento gang members, including Falls, with his car, witnesses said.Police say Falls then fired at the car, with one of his bullets killing Kebret Tekle.At Falls' preliminary hearing, Maclafferty testified that over the past year there have been "numerous shootings going back and forth" between Blood and G-Mobb-linked groups, including one identified as the Guttah Boys.One of those shootings, he said, resulted in a homicide "where a Fourth Avenue Blood was allegedly shot and killed by a Guttah Boy."The detective was referring to the Aug. 22 shooting death of Robert Haynes, 16, the Sacramento High football p...

Twenty-two individuals in the San Francisco Bay Area were indicted on federal racketeering and other charges arising from their participation in La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang, the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced today. Seven additional individuals were also charged with non-racketeering offenses ranging from narcotics trafficking to firearms trafficking, and attempted exportation of stolen vehicles. At a news conference in San Francisco, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Joseph P. Russoniello and ICE’s Director of Investigations Marcy M. Forman outlined details of the undercover investigation, dubbed “Operation Devil Horns,” in reference to MS-13’s gang sign. The investigation culminated today with the unsealing of the 52-count indictment following the arrest yesterday of 26 of the indicted suspects. In addition, two other individuals linked to the case were arrested yesterday based upon charges containe...

Joseph Allen Garcia added to the 15 Most Wanted Fugitive List, according to a report obtained by the National Association of Chiefs of Police. Garcia is wanted in Texas on charges of murder, manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and failure to appear. He is also wanted on a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. In December 2003, Garcia and two associates allegedly traveled to a residence in Laredo, Texas, with the intent of provoking a fight with another group of young men. Upon arriving at the residence, Garcia reportedly pulled out an AK-47 assault rifle and opened fire into the group, killing 18-year-old Mario Gonzalez and wounding three others. Authorities arrested Garcia the day after the murder, but he was out on bond within weeks. Garcia was into trouble again by August 2004, when he allegedly shot and wounded a young man after an argument over stereo speakers. Garcia was arrested for attempted murder and again posted bond. He w...

Steven Andrew Jordal, 24, was an infantry tank specialist in the U.S. Army from 2002 to 2007. He received the Army's Good Conduct medal, along with several other medals, badges and ribbons, the military confirmed. The investigation and arrest was prompted by a tip that the former Soldier was supposedly making improvised explosive devices to sell to gang members, according to a probable cause affidavit. Oklahoma City police took interest in Jordal when they received a tip he was selling IEDs to criminals. IEDs have emerged in Iraq as the weapon of choice for insurgents against U.S. forces.For as little as $100, Jordal was making the same kinds of weapons he saw used against his fellow soldiers in Iraqi and selling them on the streets of Okalahoma City to gang members and known criminals, according to the document. The police informant had seen Jordal testing explosives in an area near N. Western and 122 Street and said Jordal had custom- made a device for someone who wanted to damag...

15-year-old Bronx girl who goes by the street name “Lady Red” has been charged with two homicides, including the death of a man whose body was found stuffed in a garbage bag.Sharell Butler was arraigned late Saturday and charged with murder in the deaths of 24-year-old Christopher Umpierre on Dec. 19 and 22-year-old John Hopkins-Drago on Dec. 21.A Bronx building superintendent found Hopkins-Drago’s dismembered body on Barnes Avenue. Police believer Butler killed him as part of some kind of retaliation. The teenager was charged with manslaughter and assault in addition to homicide in the case of Hopkins-Drago. The medical examiner’s office said the cause of death was stab wounds to his head, torso and extremities. Prosecutors said Umpierre was shot in the chest during a home invasion robbery involving Butler and a second suspect. She was charged with second-degree murder, burglary, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in Umpierre’s homicide. Butler was arraigned in Bronx crim...

Murder charges were approved against Jose Rodriguez in the shooting death of Gino Kuelbs, according to police. Rodriguez, of the 2800 block of South Quinn Street, is scheduled to appear for a bond hearing in Violence Court (Br. 66) at noon Monday. Kuelbs, 20, of 3209 S. Carpenter St., died of a gunshot wound to the neck, according to a Saturday autopsy. He was pronounced dead at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center at 5:34 a.m. Saturday, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office, which ruled his death a homicide. Kuelbs and another person were shot in the 2800 block of Quinn Street about 4:50 a.m., according to police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli, who said officers responding to a call of an arson at the address found the shooting scene. Police said Rodriguez allegedly shot Kuelbs and another man after the two allegedly tried to set Rodriguez's car on fire outside Rodriguez's home. After 4 or 5 failed attempts because of a torrential downpour at the time, t...

Federal police say a two-year international operation has ended with the arrest in Australia of a man alleged to be the head of a drug trafficking syndicate spanning three continents.The man was formally charged on December 26 and is due to face a Melbourne court today following his extradition from the Netherlands.Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege he headed a drug syndicate operating out of Australia, Canada and the Netherlands by conspiring to import cocaine using a large network of couriers carrying the drug internally.AFP’s national manager border international Tim Morris said the effort and persistence of his organisation and its international law-enforcement partners in Canada, Thailand and the Netherlands had disrupted a global drug trafficking syndicate.“The commitment by these AFP investigators and their international counterparts led to the arrest of a key player in this global drug syndicate,” Assistant Commissioner Morris said in a statement.“The syndicate targets peop...

The supergrass,has provided evidence against accused murderer Tony Mokbel and corrupt Victorian drug squad detectives, was extradited to Victoria from the Netherlands on Boxing Day.gangland supergrass alleged to be the head of a drug trafficking syndicate spanning three continents has told a court that he fears for his safety.Australian Federal Police (AFP) allege the man, 41, headed a drug syndicate operating out of Australia, Canada and the Netherlands by conspiring to import cocaine using a large network of couriers who would swallow parcels of the drug.Police say the extradition brings to an end a two-year international operation, spanning three continents. The supergrass appeared amid high security at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday behind a protective shield and flanked by security personnel. He told the court he feared for his safety and successfully argued that his name and image should be suppressed from media publication."The biased reporting that has occurred in t...

A flier featuring Joshua Judd solicits people for the making of the Gangstas & Thugs DVDs. Police said the fliers were an invitation for people to fight for the cameras. Joshua Judd whose face once adorned the cover of the locally popular Gangstas & Thugs DVDs was found shot dead Thursday night in a car outside his home in Riviera Beach.Judd, 21, had been a suspect in at least one homicide and a long list of shootings and robberies, police said. He had been shot at least twice before, including a week before his death. He shrugged off tips from detectives to hide from retaliatory attacks. His aunt routinely called police pleading for them to save him before it was too late.Detectives who dealt with him for years saw a grim irony in the ambush-style death of a man who adorned the cover of a series of DVDs criticized for promoting violence."He knew he was going to get killed, and so did everyone else," West Palm Beach police Lt. Chuck Reed said. "It's fair to ...

A Superior Court jury returned the verdict Tuesday in the penalty phase of trial for Reuel Dishon Hulbert, a black member of one of the city's oldest Asian gangs. Jurors could have recommended the death penalty.Long Beach gang member who killed three people during a months-long shooting spree will be spending the rest of his life in prison without possibility of parole.The same jury convicted Hulbert on Dec. 10 for the first-degree murders of Daniel Chantha, Woodtee Bunthong and Sakorn Phan in 2003 and 2004. He was also convicted of attempted murder for wounding a fourth man.Hulbert will be formally sentenced Jan. 29.

Alexander Hollins, 18; Christopher Lawson, 21; and Alex J. Smith, 18, and Terrance Sligh, 20, were charged with assault and battery with the intent to kill and with pointing and presenting a handgun. Lott said the four suspects were armed and waited for the victim outside the Barrington Drive home. The suspects allegedly fired shots into the victim’s vehicle as he drove by, Lott said.Police said the shooting stemmed from a continuing feud between rival gangs.

15-year-old youth arrested overnight while driving a recently stolen vehicle says he's a member of SUR 13.The male teen was arrested about 4:25 a.m. in the 5400 block of Northside Road, off West Sugar Creek Road near the Derita community.Police say he was driving a car that had been reported stolen several hours earlier, a few blocks away on Tallu Road. After being taken into custody, the 15-year-old said he is a member of SUR 13, one of Charlotte's largest gangs.Police called in their Auto Theft and Gang Unit detectives to talk with the teen.

Fourteen suspected members of the Beltran Leyva drug gang were arrested at the cockfight in Zihuatanejo, a Pacific beach town popular with foreign tourists, the Defense Department said in a statement.Soldiers also seized 59 packets of cocaine, 40 bags of marijuana and 20 assault rifles.Seven heavily armed police officers had been guarding the suspected drug traffickers, the department said. They included Zihuatanejo's deputy police chief, Timoteo Mata Cruz.Soldiers arrested the deputy police chief of a Mexican resort town and six other officers who were accused of protecting drug cartel members at a cockfight, the Defense Department said yesterday.

Metro investigates a Saturday night knife fight between two rival biker gangs at a downtown wedding chapel, one of the victims is speaking out about the attack. The man, whose identity we are keeping anonymous, is a Mongol.He says he was at A Special Memory Wedding Chapel to get married, when he came face to face with members of the Hells Angels. "We were friggen attacked, and we defended ourselves the best we could. It's real hard to do when you're outnumbered that bad, but that's alright. Mongol on," he said Sunday afternoon, after being released from surgery. He tells us he was stabbed in the stomach three times, and his best man was also stabbed during the ordeal.According to him, the Hells Angels were just wrapping up a ceremony, as he was walking into the lobby with his fiance."I'd like to say the police and certain people are putting it out there that we did something wrong. That's not what it is. I came here to get married. I didn't even k...

Ivana Hodak, 26, beautiful celebrity daughter of a socialite lawyer defending powerful clients with lots of enemies, was slain in broad daylight in central Zagreb on October 6. four gangland-style killings in October, Croatia's powerful - and previously largely negated - underworld flexed its muscle and sent the authorities scurrying for emergency measures. A professional hitman coolly walked off after delivering the fatal shots to her head and neck - all this in broad daylight and not even 100 metres from the main police precinct. On October 23, a bomb killed Ivo Pukanic, an influential journalist and publisher with friends in the elite as much as the underworld - though nowadays the two worlds are not necessarily separated. A close friend died alongside him like collateral damage. Ahead of these killings, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader would have responded angrily when asked about organized crime, insisting there was no such thing in his country. After Hodak's murder, however, S...

Nine members of the Crips street gang have been indicted on charges they burned down the Holly Shopping Center in retaliation for the murder of local Crips founder Michael Asberry, possibly by someone from a rival street gang. The area around the center, also known as Holly Square, at 3365 Holly St., was a hangout for Bloods gang members. Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said at a news conference Friday morning that he had no doubt the indictment of the nine — eight of whom were arrested Thursday — will impact the Crips. "Anytime we do an indictment of this number of people, it is going to have an impact on any kind of street gang," he said. According to the indictment, a confrontation between the Crips and Bloods occurred at the Bash Night Club, 1902 Blake St., when it closed in the early hours of May 18. Asberry had been killed early on May 17 outside an Aurora apartment building by a still-unknown assailant. After the confrontation at Bash, a number of the Crips we...

On Friday, reputed gangster Shaun Roberts was granted bail with strict conditions, including 24-hour house arrest pending four court appearances to face charges -- including four counts of attempted murder -- in connection with the Nov. 16 gunplay. Earlier in the week, a 17-year-old associate of Roberts, facing charges in the same shootout, was granted bail with a $20,000 bond and house arrest. Deputy Chief Murray Stooke concedes gang crimes have put Calgary in an unenviable place among the nation's major cities. "In 2008, we had the second-highest number of homicides in 30 years and about 35% involved gang activity," he said. "What we're mostly concerned about is we have a running battle between two gangs that has cost lives." Statistics Canada findings show this city, along with Edmonton and Winnipeg, topped the nation for the number of gang homicides in 2007. That year, cops reported 117 homicides nationwide as gang-related, which includes killings of gan...

Two people were killed Saturday night in what police say was a gang shooting in South Los Angeles. The shooting started at about 9:30 p.m. on 50th Street near Central Avenue, Los Angeles police Sgt. Peter Gamino said. A man was shot while driving and crashed into a parked car, Los Angeles police spokesman Officer Jason Lee said. He died at the scene. Nearby, a woman walking home was struck and killed by a stray bullet. "It appears she was shot with a bullet intended for the initial victim," Lee said.

two migrant workers were kidnapped and murdered by a gang of Russian neo-Nazis. The group filmed themselves beheading one of the men with a butcher knife while he was still alive. The other is forced to kneel in a freshly dug grave and is shot in the head. Both killings were posted on the internet and the footage ends with balaclava-clad men giving Nazi salutes. According to Sova, there have been more than 80 racist murders in Russia this year alone.Violence towards migrants is becoming worse as ethnic minorities flee the poverty of their homelands and flock to Russia. Sky News quoted Sova director Alexander Verkhovsky as saying: ‘Too many people in the 1990s had to look for some universal explanation instead of Communist ideology, and ethnic nationalism was a good universal explanation.

Syndicate boss "Mum" Cuong Thi Le, 50, received a maximum term of 12 1/2 years' jail with a minimum of 10 for trafficking almost 2.08kg of heroin between March and June, 2005. Hao Van Nguyen, 81, received a maximum eight-year sentence with a 4 1/2-year minimum for trafficking a large commercial quantity. Three other female traffickers -- My Cao, 40, Thi Truong, 55, and Nhung Ta, 33 - received sentences ranging from 3 1/2 to two years. All except Ta had pleaded not guilty. Le's son, Dung Le, had previously received a suspended sentence after pleading guilty. In the County Court last week Judge Geoff Chettle described Cuong Le as the principal of a "sophisticated drug empire". After Le's arrest in July 2005 police told an out-of-sessions court hearing she had turned over about $2 million through transactions at Crown that year. Le was subsequently added to a list of 32 Victorians banned for life from the casino. During raids on Le's gang, detectives fo...

convicted Ruben Hernandez, 25, and Max Aguilar, 18, of murder for their roles in the death of Jorge Caro, 21, also of Aurora.When Caro showed up at a Latin Kings party on Sept. 3, 2005, gang members were aggravated because he had cooperated with police on a murder investigation and because he had disparaged the gang leader. But, according to testimony, what sent gang members over the edge was that Caro used the Latin Kings handshake, even though he wasn't officially a member. The gang's leader ordered Caro beaten for the affront.Prosecutors said Hernandez was one of several gang members who punched and kicked Caro as he lay on the ground. Caro was knocked unconscious during the beating, so the gang leader ordered it stopped.Someone suggested taking Caro to a hospital. Instead, prosecutors said, Quinton Moore hit Caro on the head with a bat. Charges are pending against Moore and another man. The gang leader, Roman Lucio, 26, of Aurora, has already pleaded guilty. No one testifie...

Two members of the Taliban street gang were arrested this week by a newly formed street crimes unit composed of East Palo Alto and Menlo Park officers, according to East Palo Alto Detective Ed Soares.Danny Darnell Coleman of East Palo Alto was arrested after a short foot pursuit in Menlo Park. He was charged with having a concealed weapon, being a member of a street gang with a firearm, a gang enhancement charge and resisting arrest.Jason Reese, another Taliban gang member, was arrested with Coleman and charged with a parole violation, Soares said.The police team also arrested two Pacific-Islander men, whose names were not available, for having two guns, including a loaded Uzi machine gun with 300 rounds of ammunition. The two also had scales for weighing drugs and night-vision goggles. Packaged narcotics for sale were also seized in the arrest, which occurred in the 1100 block of Saratoga Avenue in East Palo Alto.The strike team, which began work Dec. 16, includes a sergeant and three...

Mongrel Mob member entered Black Power-dominated Munro St, in Elgin.More gang members arrived and many were armed with home-made weapons, including garden implements, Senior Sergeant Rodger Gray.At least 30 police responded to emergency calls from worried members of the public.Twelve people were arrested and charged with disorderly behaviour and possession of offensive weapons.A police search of properties in the street resulted in the discovery of two cannabis growing operations and the further arrest of two people on drugs charges. Most of those charged appeared in Gisborne District Court on Thursday, with a small number yet to appear on Friday."The disappointing thing for me is that it occurred at 10.30am on the first or second day of the school holidays," Gray says."There was a large number of people, including children, who were caught up in this."The message is that any incidents such as this won't be tolerated."

possible gang-related shooting is under investigation in Elkhart.The shooting happened on Stevens Avenue.Elkhart police say Jaime Benavidez was shot in the hip around 4:00 a.m. Thursday morning.He was taken to the hospital by family members. Police say the bullet hit a major artery and that Benavidez is in serious condition. Investigators have interviewed several people that claim to have information about the shooting, but they say most of them have been uncooperative.Elkhart police say Benavidez is a documented gang member.

20-year-old man identified by police as a leader of a Bounty Hunters Bloods gang was found guilty Thursday of recruiting youths and participating in criminal activity to benefit the gang.Arous J. Phillips was arrested Aug. 4 after police raided five Cradock-area homes looking for evidence of gangs, criminal activity, weapons and stolen items.Several police officers testified during the bench trial that they had observed Phillips and others wearing the red and black beads, bandannas or clothes that denote Bloods gang members.A witness, Anthony Graham, testified that Phillips was a "superior" in the gang. Graham said he had discussed the gang with Phillips for about a week before he was initiated in the summer of 2006. Graham was 15 at the time.Prosecutor Amy Miller asked Grahamwhat gang members do, and he answered: "Try to get rank." He said that was done by committing "missions" such as burglaries and robberies.Graham said Phillips sent him on two of those...

Reputed Chula Vista street gang member was ordered held over for trial in last year's shooting death of a 22-year-old woman in front of a Rialto home. Carlos Silva Bernal was driven to a West Cornell Drive residence on Jan. 31, 2007, got out of a truck and waited as the victim walked toward him, Rialto police officers testified Thursday at a hearing in Fontana Superior Court. Witnesses say Stephanie Ann Lenczyk, who associated with a Rialto street gang, walked from the home toward Bernal, a man she may have had a prior relationship with, according to court testimony. Bernal pulled out a black gun, shot Lenczyk twice, got back into the truck and left. Another man who was at the home pulled the woman to the grass. Police officers tried to get information from the woman about who shot her. "Bugsy shot me. He shot me twice," Officer Rory Scalf testified he heard Lenczyk say. She was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, where she died. After hearing the testim...

Police say as many as 150 people were inside the main sanctuary of the church at the funeral when a fight broke out between Cross and a rival gang member named Latwan Brown. As of Thursday afternoon, police were still searching for Brown, whom they described as armed and dangerous. But detectives say that precious few of the scores of people who witnessed the fight and, moments later, the shooting, have come forward to tell police what they saw. Police believe that Brown borrowed the gun he allegedly used to shoot Cross from someone else at the church. A lot of people who were there must know who brought that gun to the funeral of a middle-aged Portland woman. Of course, the reluctance to get involved is partly about fear. Cross and Brown, authorities said, are members of two rival sets within the Crips gang. Cross was shot before, on Aug. 3, taking a bullet in his stomach on the 4700 block of North Mississippi Avenue. Yet it won't stop, it won't get safer, in North Portland an...

Members of the Green Street and Bloods gangs allegedly pledged to retaliate against the police officer who shot and killed John Earl Parks of Brockton on Nov. 5, US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said in a written statement.After Brockton officers stopped Parks in an alleged drug deal near Warren Avenue and Green Street, Parks fled on foot and fired a gun at officers, Police Chief William K. Conlon said. Officers returned fire, killing the 25-year-old.After learning of the alleged plot to target the officer, Brockton police arrested 12 suspected gang members on gun and drug-related charges yesterday.Eight Brockton residents - John Goncalves, 22; Placido Pereira, 22; Dennis Afonso, 25; Emmanuel Teixeira, 18; Rodney Gallaway, 29; Embassi Dosanjos, 24; Johnny Richmond, 21; and Daquawn Jones, 18 - were charged with federal offenses ranging from conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine to distribution of crack cocaine within a school zone, Sullivan said. If convicted, the...

The "Nut Cases" gang terrorized Oakland residents in late 2002 and early 2003 by committing numerous murders and robberies, declined to say why he allowed Dorsey-Colbert to plead to the lesser charge. Oakland woman who reluctantly lured her illicit lover to his execution-style shooting death at the request of her jealous gang-leader husband was sentenced today to 15 years to life in state prison for her second-degree murder conviction. Aminah "Nay-Nay" Dorsey-Colbert, 30, who was arrested in January 2003, pleaded no contest on June 5 and was sentenced today by Alameda County Superior Court Judge C. Don Clay.Dorsey-Colbert, who's married to Gregory Colbert Jr., the reputed leader of the "Nut Cases" gang, was charged with murder with the special circumstance of lying in wait in connection with the slaying of youth basketball coach Joseph Mabrey, 36, at the hands of her brother-in-law, Demarcus Ralls, in the 3200 block of Storer Avenue in the Oakland hill...

From top left, clockwise, the nine Crips members indicted in the Holly Shopping Center fire: Mario Jennings, Marquise Jones, Antwan McCoy, Deangelo Calaway, Corsia Crosby, David Tinsley, Katsina Roybal, Jimmy Hopkins and Mitchell Walker. Walker has not been arrested yet. Nine members of the Crips street gang have been indicted on charges they burned down the Holly Shopping Center in retaliation for the murder of local Crips founder Michael Asberry, possibly by someone from a rival street gang. The area around the center, also known as Holly Square, at 3365 Holly Street, was a hangout for Bloods gang members. Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said at a news conference this morning that he had no doubt the indictment of the nine — eight of whom were arrested Thursday — will impact the Crips. "Obviously this is a large number of individuals who are associated with the Crips gang," Morrissey said. "Any time we do an indictment of this number of people it is going to h...

leader of a Tacoma street gang was spoiling for a fight the night of Nov. 15, Pierce County prosecutors contended Thursday. As many as 100 people, many of them associated with a rival gang, were on his turf, celebrating the 16th birthday of a Lincoln High School student at the South End Community Center.Authorities allege Pitra Bay Oeung, 18, wanted to incite a rumble, so he brought some of his subordinates to the center and urged them to attack their rivals.Henry Nhem, 17, reportedly heeded his leader’s call.Prosecutors contend in newly filed charging documents that Nhem pulled out a silver pistol and fired four shots into a crowd that had come outside the community center to confront Oeung’s gang. One bullet hit Phillip G. Oquendo, 18. Oquendo, who also went by the last name Johnson, stumbled back into the community center and later died. Another partygoer was hit in the hand.Prosecutors on Thursday charged Oeung and Nhem with first-degree murder and first-degree assault in the shoot...

officials charges against the men were possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. Police said several have connections to the Gangster Disciples, a notorious Chicago street gang. "These people face very severe criminal charges. This criminal behavior is not just limited to Chicago and middle-class America," Monroe said. The men arrested were: * Trevail "Tre" Banks, 26, of 1096 Stonehedge Drive, Schaumburg. * Shannon "Shine" Bennet, 29, of 1040 E. 80th St., Chicago. * Kenton Bradley, 33, of 5512 Montibello, Hanover Park. * Robert Green, 41, of 808 Holyoke Court, Schaumburg. * Randy Hamlette, 39, of 808 Holyoke Court, Schaumburg. * Curly Mixon, 24, of 17 S. Porter, Elgin. * Yuliet Nava, 24, of 334 Dundee Road, Elgin. * Robert "Big Boy" Wasp, 37, of 1930 Oxford Court, Schaumburg. * Frederick Woodson, 41, of 36 Grant Circle, Streamwood. Named as fugitives were Trotter; Corey "Sug" Stewart, 34. of 371 Silva, and Curly Mixon,...

Signs point to gang violence in Tuesday's shooting outside the Garfield Community Center that left a young man in critical condition. A 21-year-old man was shot in the face after he and his friends exchanged words with another group of young men outside the center in the 2300 block of East Cherry.The seeds of the shooting may have actually been sown nearly a year ago in another shooting at another locations. The shooting on Jan. 4, sources said, may have been the springboard for a lot of this violence.Nearly a year ago, 17-year-old Allen Joplin was shot and killed when a group of uninvited guests crashed a back-to-school party held for about 100 teens at a rented space at 116 Elliott Avenue West. Witnesses said the fatal shooting was the result of rival gangs from South Seattle and the Central District staking out their turf. "I thought something would happen. So I decided not to go, to stay clear of it," said one teen who wished to remain anonymous. There have been at le...

Michael Rungen starts his life sentence, the detective whose team brought him to justice, Det Supt Steve Payne vowed to maintain the hunt for those who pulled the trigger and finally ended the life of Yardie gangster Rohan Ricketts after two previous assassination attempts."We will not give up pursuing the other two gunmen. We will not tolerate gun crime," Det Supt Payne said today. When Ricketts was stabbed, battered and shot dead by at least three men who chased him into the Shahjahan Indian restaurant on Roundhay Road, the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team faced an uphill battle to identify those responsible.There was little to go on. Everybody including witnesses and the gunmen had fled. There began a painstaking enquiry to piece together the events of the evening of April 20 2007. Ricketts had spent the previous four hours with Carol Harvey just yards from the take-away restaurant in Bayswater Terrace off Roundhay Road, Harehills. He left, it is believed to deal drugs, but...

Two possible gang members were arrested in the fatal shooting of asheriff's deputy who was murdered as he was getting ready to go to work, officials announced Saturday.Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Juan Escalante, 27, was shot dead outside his parents' home August 2 as he was getting ready to drive to his job at the Men's Central Jail. Guillermo Hernandez, 20, and Carlos Velasquez, 24, of Los Angeles, were arrested Friday night, the Los Angeles Police Department announced. The suspects were booked and arrested for murder and were being held without bail.Paul M. Weber, the president of police union the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said both men were gang members. A police spokesman would not confirm if the men had gang ties. It was not immediately known if the men had been appointed attorneys. Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton said Escalante was loading a car seat into the family's car when he was shot. He died from a gunshot wound to the head. ...

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks imposed the sentence on Vincent Artuso, 64, following his conviction in October on 41 fraud and racketeering charges involving a lengthy scam against ADT Security Services Inc. The scheme involved several crooked real estate deals that cost ADT, which is part of Tyco International Ltd., at least $11 million and possibly much more, prosecutors said."It was a large-scale, complex, multimillion-dollar scheme," said Assistant U.S. Attorney William T. Shockley. "They were getting a big payday every year. It was like an annuity."Captain of the Gambino crime family's South Florida operations, who prosecutors say has been linked to an infamous hit that led to John Gotti's rise to power, was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in federal prison in a major real estate fraud case. Artuso was a "made member" of the Gambino family and directed a Palm Beach-based Mafia crew that included his own son, Shockley said. The prosecu...

13 arrests were made Friday at residences in Denville, Dover, Randolph, Rockaway, Victory Gardens and Wharton, as part of Gov. Jon S. Corzine's Strategy for Safe Streets and Neighborhoods, a statewide initiative targeting criminal street gangs. More than 100 officers from 18 agencies participated in the 6 a.m. bust, which was the third phase of an "aggressive mission to cripple street gangs' command structure by taking down leaders and high-ranking associates," county Prosecutor Robert A. Bianchi said during a news conference Monday afternoon.Since August, Morris authorities have arrested 32 individuals from Morris and Essex counties on 286 charges, and seized $1.35 million in cocaine and heroin and 33 firearms, including assault rifles and high-powered weapons."It's a hit-them-when-they-are-down philosophy. We used a variety of undercover infiltration methods, changing things up like a boxer so they did not become accustomed to our methods of operation,...

Sean Mercer was just 16 when he fired the fatal shot but was already a hardened criminal steeped in the drug-dealing violence of Liverpool. Rhys was 11 and obsessed with football. He died in his mother's arms.Teenage gang leader who gunned down innocent schoolboy Rhys Jones was convicted of murder today.Mercer, now 18, stood trial after police finally cracked the wall of silence in the city that had protected him. As Rhys's parents Stephen and Melanie Jones looked on, six other thugs were also convicted of helping Mercer cover up after the shooting.They are James Yates, 20, Nathan Quinn, 18, Melvin Coy, 24, Gary Kays, 25, Dean Kelly, 17, and a youth aged 16 known as M who cannot be named because of his age. Mercer faces the juvenile equivalent of a life sentence when all the defendants are sentenced later at Liverpool Crown Court by Mr Justice Irwin.Rhys's father welcomed the conviction of Mercer, saying: "Finally justice has been done for Rhys." The murder in Aug...

Board of Licenses acted Monday to close Club Passion and Level II pending an emergency hearing on Wednesday. A Boston man, 24-year-old Anthony Parrish, was fatally shot early Sunday near Club Passion. A second man was wounded in the incident. Twenty-two-year-old Jeremy Olearnick, of Norwich, Conn., was stabbed to death in a parking lot near the Level II dance club on Dec. 6. Two men were arrested in connection with that attack. Both killings occurred at or shortly after closing time for the clubs.

Elizabeth City police have arrested three street gang members in connection with a shooting Saturday that sent a member of a rival gang to the hospital with a leg wound. Maurice Bowser, 19, of the 200 block of Queen Street, was charged Monday with assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, Sgt. Gary Bray of the Elizabeth City Police Department said. Also arrested in the incident were Joey Lamar White, 20, of Trinkaloe Road, and Snody Slade Jr., 19, of the 600 block of Cedar Street. Both were charged with felony solicitation to commit a felony. All three men are believed to be members of the Bloods street gang and all are charged in connection with the shooting of Antione Williams, a member of the rival gang, the Crips. According to Bray, the men were standing in the vicinity of B Street’s intersection with Herrington Road about 3 p.m. Saturday when a vehicle in which Williams was a passenger pulled up nearby. After an ar...

Italian police on Monday made a major narcotics bust they said showed that Sicily's Mafia was still heavily involved in the drugs trade.In recent years there has been a slew of reports claiming the Calabrian 'Ndrangheta has largely taken over the European cocaine trade from its elder sister in Sicily.But the results of Monday's operation contradicted this, said the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe's transnational crime envoy, Carlo Vizzini.''This operation shows that Cosa Nostra is still a major player in drugs,'' said Vizzini, who is also a member of Italy's parliamentary anti-Mafia commission.''Police have caught old and new Mafiosi in this together. Leopards can't change their spots''.''Sicily is becoming, once again, a key cross-roads for the international drugs trade''.Vizzini said the Mafia had ''once again'' shown its transnational nature.He called for ''new norms...

Ruben "Nite Owl"Castro, 46, is a leader, or carnal, of the Mexican Mafia, also known as the "La Eme" prison gang. Authorities say Castro controls two cliques of the 18th Street gang -- the Shatto Park Locos and the Hoover Locos. Castro is alleged to have run those gang cliques from a federal maximum-security prison in Colorado, where he is serving multiple life terms and was recently sentenced to an additional 27 years and three months for racketeering. Prosecutors say that from behind bars, Martinez, another La Eme carnal, allegedly made as much as $40,000 a month from criminal activity.Enriquez's childhood does not fit the Dickensian template one would expect from a sociopathic hit man. He grew up in a predominantly white suburban Cerritos neighborhood, in a home with two parents who had immigrated here from Mexico. His father, an ambitious, hard-working man who eventually owned a custom furniture factory and dabbled in commercial real estate, had his faults, ...