Pubdate: Tue, 23 Jun 1998
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Contact:  (414) 224-8280
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Author: Jessica McBride of the Journal Sentinel staff

U.S. ACCUSES 33 OF RUNNING LATIN KING REIGN OF TERROR

Charges In Gang Case Include 9 Murders

Thirty-three alleged members of the Latin Kings gang, accused of
orchestrating an 11-year reign of terror on the near south side, were
indicted Monday on federal racketeering, drug conspiracy and arms charges.

In a 73-page indictment, federal authorities said the 33 defendants were
responsible for nine murders, 21 attempted murders, nine robberies, three
arsons and an attempted arson, five kidnappings and an ongoing drug
trafficking conspiracy.

The Milwaukee chapter of the Almighty Latin King Nation -- its official
name -- was sophisticated enough, authorities allege, to provide safe
houses for firearms, require dues from members, punish disobedient members
through beating or death, have a written manifesto, receive training on
destroying evidence, murder law-enforcement informers, and be ruled by a
"crown council" of top leaders.

The murders attributed to the Latin Kings include those of a 19-year-old
man gunned down as he sat in a barber's chair getting a haircut, a
15-year-old Oak Creek girl beaten and dumped in a river, a 19-year-old
woman shot six times as she sat in a car, and two double murders.

Authorities allege that the gang was a criminal enterprise and that its
primary source of income was "drug dealing, robbery and gun sales." They
said the gang used the proceeds from drug trafficking and robberies to
boost legitimate businesses under gang control, obtain firearms and support
incarcerated gang members and their families.

The indictment says the Latin Kings have murdered and attempted to murder
members of rival gangs, including the 2-1s, the Imperial Gangsters, La
Familia, the Maniac Latin Disciples and the Spanish Cobras. The Kings have
also allegedly murdered individuals believed to have provided information
to authorities.

Most recently, the gang was said to be involved in a back-and-forth series
of payback murders during an escalating rivalry with local Mexican Posse
gang members.

Nearly all of the defendants face a maximum term of life in prison without
parole if convicted. U.S. Attorney Thomas Schneider announced in a Monday
afternoon press conference that 26 defendants were charged with
racketeering, 26 with conspiracy to sell drugs from 1987 to the present, 11
with specific drug-dealing violations, and four with firearms violations.
Some of the defendants face multiple charges.

The racketeering charges are being made under the Racketeer Influenced and
Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO. It was last used by federal
authorities in Milwaukee in 1997, when 17 members of the Outlaws motorcycle
gang were indicted.

The indictments announced Monday seek $10 million in proceeds from what
prosecutors called the illegal profits of the criminal enterprise.

"These arrests are part of the continuing effort to disrupt and dismantle
organized gang activity in this community," said Debra Pierce, acting
special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation office in
Milwaukee. The FBI was one of numerous agencies -- from Milwaukee police to
the federal Drug Enforcement Administration -- to play a role in the
effort, dubbed Operation Checkmate.

"This investigation demonstrates the commitment of the Milwaukee Police
Department to rooting out gang violence in order to make our neighborhoods
safe," Police Chief Arthur Jones said. "Law enforcement agencies are
working together and will continue to proactively target violent gangs."

Authorities would not reveal what tactics they used to crack the gang's
hierarchy and what specific evidence they had compiled. They said details
would be revealed in court. However, they acknowledged that during the
course of the lengthy investigation, 39 other alleged Latin Kings members
have been charged with various offenses in state and federal court,
including two additional murders.

Monday's press conference came just hours after a task force of 200 federal
and local law enforcement officers swept through the city's south side,
rounding up alleged gang members without incident. Nearly two dozen of the
accused appeared in federal court Monday afternoon, led into the courtroom
in handcuffs by U.S. marshals and other officers under tight security.

Most were dressed in T-shirts and jeans, looking like they were straight
out of high school. Some coming into court had their hair cropped short and
sported gang tattoos on their arms, looking sullen and slumping in their
chairs as federal prosecutors read off a string of charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Larsen requested that all the defendants be
temporarily detained until a bond hearing can be held Thursday. The
government will seek detention until trial of most of those charged in
Monday's indictments. U.S. Magistrate Judge Aaron Goodstein ordered 20
defendants held in jail until Thursday's bond hearings.

Just a handful of the 33 people named in the indictments were still at
large late Monday.

The national organization of the Latin Kings is known to have chapters in
several states, including Illinois, Connecticut, Florida and New York. The
Milwaukee branch was established in the mid-1970s and quickly grew to
dominate the south side.

It defined its territory as a swath of the city from S. 15th to S. 1st
streets between W. National and W. Cleveland avenues. Over the years, the
gang split into subchapters.

Schneider said the gang truly controls no territory. He and other law
enforcement officials said Monday's action should demoralize and weaken the
gang. And they repeatedly said they wanted to send out a warning to other
street gangs that they also might be targets under federal racketeering
laws.

Neighborhoods, they said, belong to law-abiding citizens, not gangs.

"These charges are not just a message to the Latin Kings," Schneider said.
"It is also a message to the Cobras, Mexican Posse, Maniac Latin Disciples,
Black Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords and all of the other gangs out there.
The message to gangs is you will be targeted and you will be prosecuted.
The violence must stop."

Schneider stressed that those who lost their lives to the gang should not
be forgotten amid the attention paid to Monday's sweep.

Eleven murders were alleged to have been committed by Latin Kings gang
members during the 11-year period covered by the investigation -- the nine
mentioned in Monday's indictment and two others that authorities said were
part of the investigation. Several already have resulted in charges or
convictions of gang members in Circuit Court. The federal charges announced
Monday name other people as planning some of those slayings.

The 11 victims were:

m Jenna Gonzales, 15, was found beaten to death on May 16, 1993, along the
5600 block of S. Root River Parkway in Greendale. The indictment Monday
named Antonio "S.P.A." Mendez in connection with the murder. Mendez was
acquitted of homicide by a Circuit Court jury in 1993; this time, he was
accused of conspiracy under racketeering laws.

m Angelique Morales, 19, was shot six times as she sat in a parked car Jan.
23, 1994, in the 1600 block of W. Forest Home Ave. The indictment accuses
Pedro "Pistol Pete" Martinez and another man of conspiring to murder her;
the second man was not named Monday because he remained at large.

m Juan C. Pantojas, 22, was found Nov. 5, 1995, in an alley in the 1100
block of S. 23rd St. near his car, which still had its headlights on. He
was shot in the head, back, neck and right leg. The indictment accuses
three defendants of conspiring to murder Pantojas. Two were not named
because they remained at large Monday; the third was identified as
Alejandro "Wicked" Vallejo.

m Jose Antonio Andino, 25, and Luis A. Enriquez, 33, were found shot to
death in the 1900 block of S. 5th Place early on Nov. 27, 1995. The
indictment accuses Vallejo of the murders.

m Michael Steven Tepley, 15, was found dead in the kitchen of his family's
home in the 700 block of W. Maple St. on July 13, 1996. No indictments on
Monday related to this case; prosecutors, however, said it was part of the
investigation.

m Francisco Correa, 20, and George Staninzewski, 17, were ambushed while
sitting in a car early July 16, 1996, in front of a home in the 2300 block
of S. 15th Place. A third man was wounded in the attack. The indictment
accuses Wilfredo "Pito" Vasquez in the murders.

m Daryl Davis, 21, was shot in the head and chest in the 2400 block of S.
6th St. on Sept. 2, 1996. Vasquez is accused of the murder.

m Frank Garza, 19, was slain while getting a haircut at Jose Ortiz'
barbershop at 831 W. National Ave., on Feb. 19, 1997. A man strolled into
the shop, shot Garza in the head with a pistol, then calmly walked outside.
The indictment accuses Jorge "Junior" or "J-Bone" Espada of the murder, and
Raymond Rivera of conspiracy in the murder.

m Donald Eldridge, 23, was shot Oct. 8, 1997, after he bought a half-pound
bag of marijuana. No indictments on Monday related to the case; authorities
said it was part of the investigation.

Dave Daley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

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