GANGLAND GODFATHER

Five Black Power gang members accused of murder will stay behind bars because of fears of witness intimidation.Peri Niwa, 31, a scaffolder, was stabbed to death on November 16 in the New Plymouth suburb of Moturoa.The five have been in custody since being arrested in December.In the New Plymouth District Court yesterday, Judge Allan Roberts declined Adrian Fenton and Rangi Rick Brown release on 24-hour electronic bail, saying the risks to witnesses were too great.Judge Roberts said that on the night of the alleged murder, the five had travelled across town, as members of Black Power, literally to confront another group."There was a shotgun and a knife or other sharp object utilised to stab Mr Niwa," he said.It would be much easier for the gang members to track down and intimidate witnesses if they were out on bail, the judge said.For the two men, defence lawyer Barry Henderson argued that there could be no fear that his clients would intimidate witnesses because they had no i...

Pablo Alejandro Guzman pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter in the Cruz case, and two counts of attempted assault in the later robbery.Pablo Alejandro Guzman was arrested Oct. 2, 2007, after the May 20 stabbing death of Constantino Cruz. Casimiro Blancas, whom Cruz had previously beaten in a fistfight, was tried and convicted of Cruz' murder in a May 2008 trial by a Washington County jury. Washington County Circuit Judge Marco A. Hernandez sentenced Guzman to 10 years in prison for the manslaughter conviction, and a combined five years in prison for the assault pleas stemming from the robbery. The sentences will run consecutively, with Guzman not eligible for early release during the first 10 years of his prison time, according to Robert Bletko, Washington County chief deputy district attorney. Blancas, Luis Alberto Gonzalez and Jildardo Blancas-Perez, three of the other defendants in the Cruz case, have already been sentenced to life in prison.

Anthony Dwain Bell was booked into jail at 3:14 a.m. today, accused of attempted aggravated murder, two counts of attempted murder and felon in possession of a firearm. Police say Bell is the stepbrother of Darius Perry, an 18-year-old fatally shot in Gresham New Year's Eve in a shooting that stemmed from gang rivalries that erupted after a 31-year-old man was shot inside a North Portland church on Dec. 12. The shooting occurred at 2:21 p.m. in the 9200 block of Southeast Holgate Boulevard. Witnesses told police they saw a man on foot shoot at a passing car. The Portland Police Bureau's Special Emergency Reaction Team and Hostage Negotation Team were called out later in the night, and surrounded a home about a block away on Southeast Pardee Street, where Bell surrendered to police by 7:30 p.m. Bell also was charged with a parole violation. He has a 2006 second-degree assault conviction. Bell is being held on a total $755,000 bail, and will be arraigned in Multnomah County Circu...

one man was fatally shot and two others wounded during a show at Chop Suey on Saturday night. Yesterday afternoon and evening, two men, aged 25 and 18, were arrested and booked into King County Jail on charges connected to the tragedy. The 25-year-old faces felony charges, while the 18-year-old will be looking at a lower level assault charge. The violence has brought a somber note to the hiphop community's typically playful conversations, evidenced by the dialogue at last night's impromptu summit of some of Seattle's foremost local artists, promoters, and other community leaders at Moe Bar. That the gathering even occurred is an acknowledgment of how seriously the Chop Suey shooting could affect the city's music industry.Big Kountry, one of the promoters of Saturday night's show, has spent the last day almost exclusively at Harborview with the friends and families of the men who were shot; several others at the meeting have visited the hospital over the past thirty-...

Clinton Shawn Martin Jr., 24, of 31 E. Market St. in Harrisonburg, was arrested Tuesday afternoon as he attempted to trade drugs for guns in the Roses parking lot on Mason Street. He faces 46 charges, including drug distribution, firearms violations and gang participation."He is known as one of the leaders of the gang," said Lt. Kurt Boshart of the Harrisonburg Police Department during a press conference Wednesday. "Taking him off the streets is a major blow to drug activity." Boshart declined to say what gang the suspects are alleged to be affiliated with. So far, four people have been arrested in connection with the case and more arrests are pending, Boshart said.A search warrant was executed Tuesday on Martin's home but as of Wednesday afternoon the search warrant wasn't on file in the Rockingham County Circuit Court.Boshart said the CHARGE Gang Task Force began the investigation about two years ago after it received information that a gang member was sel...

Shawn Beauchamp was not the victim of gang violence when he was shot dead on a North End street on the weekend, a source close to the man's family claims. On his way to visit someone, Beauchamp was walking near a relative's home when he was confronted, chased, bear-sprayed and shot at least once early Sunday, the source said. "It was the wrong place at the wrong time," said the source, who didn't know what sparked the confrontation. No one has been charged. Beauchamp was in a gang but relatives said he was trying to escape the lifestyle, fuelling speculation the shooting may be gang-related. The source said that's not the case. Beauchamp was chased to St. John's Avenue and Charles Street, where he was shot in the torso, the source said. Residents reported hearing at least three gunshots. Beauchamp was on statutory release at the time of his death, serving a 40-month sentence for a violent home invasion. The sentence was to expire Jan. 31. It was the final ...

Fernando Vazquez, 25, of the 3100 block of South Keeler Avenue was charged in a federal complaint late last year with violating drug and firearms laws, the FBI said in a news release.FBI offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a man believed to be a high-ranking gang member in charge of overseeing cocaine distribution throughout Chicago.He is alleged to be a member of the Latin Kings and was among 40 gang members and associates charged in an investigation dubbed Operation Pesadilla, which targeted the Kings' leadership. "Vazquez is one of only four defendants who [are] still at large," the FBI said