GANGLAND GODFATHER

Lawsuit against the Sureno 13 gang comes just before Cinco de Mayo, a popular Latino fiesta, which runs May 1-2. Police Chief John Harrington calls Sureno 13 the fastest growing gang in the Twin Cities. He says the level of violence it is able and willing to commit is escalating. City attorney John Choi says if approved by a judge, the measure would allow St. Paul Police officers to arrest any gang member found within a so-called safe zone near the festival. "If they want to come to the event they can certainly come with their mom or come by themself. But if they're engaging in gang behavior or basically hanging out with another known gang member -- ultimately that's what we want as a court order and then a violation of that court order is a misdemeanor crime. So that will help law enforcement in many ways," he said. Choi says during last year's Cinco de Mayo celebration, a Sureno gang member was involved in a drive-by shooting. But law enforcement officials say t...

Nine of the gang members were arrested based on outstanding state arrest warrants and are being held in state custody on criminal charges including burglary, theft, assault, drive-by shootings, weapons violations and various misdemeanor charges. All nine are under immigration detainers so that if they're released from state custody, they'll be detained by ICE. All 22 people arrested are from Mexico, and allegedly are associated with the Vato Loco Boys, Sureno 13, Players for Life, and North Side Gangsters. (ICE news release, July 2)In a three-day operation ending June 27 in the Richmond, Va., metropolitan area, ICE Gang Investigation Unit special agents arrested 20 people the agency described as "known gang members" and 21 it referred to as "identified gang associates" from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico. (In past sweeps, the agency has implied that "gang associates" may include family members cohabiting with the alleged gang members—see INB, ...

Daniel Ray Francis, a father of four from Little Flock, was shot in the back of the head May 6, 2006, as he rode in a friend’s car on U. S. 71 Business near Pleasant Grove Road. Serafin Sandoval-Vega, 20, Manuel Enrique Camacho, 27, and Roxana Hernandez, 22, are charged in Benton County Circuit Court in connection with his death. Witness statements show that 32-year-old Francis was gunned down in a gang crime, prosecutors say. Tracy Stith told investigators that he and Francis had been in a roadway dispute with the trio and that both cars took turns cutting in front of each other and slamming on the brakes. After about 15 minutes, Sandoval-Vega stuck a gun out the window of Camacho’s Honda Civic and fired, prosecutors say. “This wasn’t a road-rage shooting. It was a gang initiation,” said Al Valdez, a gang expert. “Mr. Camacho seized an opportunity in a dispute with strangers to let Sandoval-Vega commit a crime to get into a gang.” Sandoval-Vega, whom prosecutors say pulled the trigger...