Mexican Mafia Prison Gang

Mexican Mafia Underlings Who Tried to Stamp out Black People from Azusa in Suburban L.A. Get 10 and 20 Years in Prison

A vicious, racist, father-and-son thug team tight with the Mexican Mafia, Santiago "Chico'' Rios and his deaf adult son Louis "Lil' Chico" Rios, have been sentenced to long prison terms for pouring drugs into and out of suburban Azusa -- and making it their No. 1 duty to "cleans[e] African-Americans ... More >>

Isaac Guillen: Real-Life Breaking Bad For Attorney Who Helped Mexican Mafia

He was a boy from the hood who gave up gang life for the UCLA School of Law and a legal career going up against prosecutors in the big leagues of federal court. But some of those very prosecutors now say that Isaac Guillen tore a page out of the Breaking Bad script and returned to a life of crime, ... More >>

USC Students Robbed By Harpys Gang? Feds Crack Down, Allege Mexican Mafia Ties

Federal officials today cracked down on a Mexican Mafia-connected gang it says has targeted USC students for robberies and shaken down or "taxed" local businesses via threats of violence and murder. The RICO organized-crime indictment against alleged leaders and members of the "Harpys Deadend Gang" ... More >>

FBI Busts Massive L.A. County Meth Ring, Arrests 16 Gangsters With Names Like 'Fat Boy'

Bad news, meth heads: The feds just took the good stuff off the streets of the San Gabriel Valley. After 16 months on the trail, with a little help from the DEA and the ATF, a gigantic task force of investigators from the FBI, the Pasadena PD, the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and the California ... More >>

Torture in L.A. Burbs Looks Like La Eme

Marijuana Dispensary Ruling in Riverside Could Affirm Right of California Cities to Outlaw Pot Shops

ThinkingCouchA dispensary.​Updated at the bottom: The court said cities can ban dispensaries. First posted at 12:37 p.m. on Nov. 1. Medical marijuana advocates are steaming mad over a court ruling ... that hasn't even happened yet. Tomorrow California's Fourth District Court of Appeals (Divi ... More >>

Marijuana Dispensaries in L.A. Magnets For Robbers, Violence, Organized Crime -- Report

Fox 11 NewsRobbery in progress.​Only weeks after RAND took a controversial study of marijuana dispensary crime off the shelf following questions about its validity, a Fox 11 News report gives at least anecdotal evidence that some pot shops are dangerous places (especially for people who work t ... More >>

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Azusa 13 Gang Terrorized Blacks, Monopolized Drug Sales, Sent 'Taxes' to Mexican Mafia, Feds Allege

​The feds cracked down today on a San Gabriel Valley Latino gang they say has been on a war path against African Americans for 20 years. Sixteen people were arrested, 23 were already behind bars, seven were arrested on state drug allegations, and 12 others were on the loose as authorities act ... More >>

Over 2,000 Cellphones Smuggled Into California Prisons in 2 Months; Prison Guard Union Still Won't Accept Security Scans Without Pay

mobilebehavior.comBusiness as usual​That's the bad news. The good news is that California State Senator Alex Padilla pushed a bill to punish cellphone smugglers through its first stage of approval yesterday (his third attempt in the last four years). Currently, phones are used by jailed bigsh ... More >>

Feds Sweep Lennox 13 Gang Near LAX, Allege Drug Sales, Mexican Mafia Ties

Welcome to Los Angeles.​Orange County has Disneyland. San Diego has Seaworld. And L.A. has ... Drugland, conveniently located just east of LAX. This according to federal authorities, who on Wednesday swept the Lennox 13 gang, including some members named in an indictment that alleges the set ... More >>

Charles Manson Cell Phone Prison Call On Tape; Big Killers, Mexican Mafia And 8,675 Criminals Use Smuggled Cells In California Prisons

Charles Manson on the line.​Charles Manson had a smuggled cell phone in prison. CBS has truly creepy audio of Manson singing in a sicko call to the outside world. The Weekly explained the ugly game by legislators Mark Leno and Tom Ammiano, who head public safety committees in Sacramento -- and ... More >>

Deputy Abel Escalante's Sorrowful Revenge

Carlos Velasquez can't recall the deputy's name. Now he faces murder charges

Cell Phones Flooding to Mexican Mafia Prisoners

Schwarzenegger vs. Legislature pissing match means no crackdown

Los Angeles Times Prints Names Of Witnesses In Case Against Gangster And Associates Who Allegedly Murdered Sheriff's Deputy Juan Abel Escalante: Police Union Says The Paper Is Putting Wits In Danger

​Bad week for the Los Angeles Times. First a well-liked educator appears to have committed suicide after the paper published its controversial public-school teacher ratings database that gave the man, Rigoberto Ruelas, a lackluster review. Now the Los Angeles police union is taking the Times ... More >>

L.A. Council People Hahn, Reyes, Cardenas, Whine About Death Threats Following City's Boycott Of Arizona

​Updated after the jump with a response from Hahn's chief of staff, who says there was no whining involved. First posted at 1:10 p.m. We've ribbed the Los Angeles City Council for taking easy, painless stances (cat declawing) while putting off hard choices (pension reform), but in the case of ... More >>

Washington Times Brings Gangs, Graffiti And Illegal Immigrants To Bell Salary Story

Ted SoquiI see brown people ... at a Bell City Council meeting.​The Bell salary scandal, in which a city manager was found to be taking home as much as $1.5 million in compensation, has inspired headlines from coast to coast. But none of the coverage has been as dark as that of the Washington ... More >>

East Los Angeles Hit Man Trained by Mexican Cartels

A cunning American boy grows up to execute his friends and family

Street Gang With Ties To Mexican Mafia Raided

​Federal and state authorities raided an Ontario street gang that allegedly has ties to the Mexican Mafia. Twenty-seven members of the Black Angels were arrested in the action Wednesday morning after a Los Angeles federal grand jury indicted 50 of the gang's members on suspicion of racketeerin ... More >>

Jerry Brown Announces Successful Prosecution Of Mexican Mafia Cell

​State Attorney General Jerry Brown on Thursday announced the last of a series of successful prosecutions against a Mexican Mafia cell that worked in Imperial and San Diego counties. Imperial County resident Patrick Ralph Ponce, 44, pleaded guilty this week to drug, weapon, kidnapping and ext ... More >>

Latino Gang Member Who Targeted Black Victims Gets Life

​A Latino gang member who a judge said "preyed on victims because they were black" received a sentence of life in federal prison (and then some) this week. Francisco Flores, 24, actually received a life sentence as well as a consecutive 10 years for racketeering that includes conspiring to com ... More >>

Feds Bust MySpace Gang With Ties To Mexican Mafia

​Federal agents cracked down members of a Latino Riverside gang that allegedly uses MySpace to communicate about gang business and rap videos to promote itself as it also trafficks methamphetamine and attacks random African-Americans. Six members of Riverside's Eastside Riva (ESR) gang were a ... More >>

Smuggling Cell Phones To Prisoners Perfectly Legal; Bill Would Change That

​One of organized crime's more potent weapons of late has been the mobile phone. If you've ever wondered how a prison-based organization like the Mexican Mafia can be so effective, or why even some prison officials have said prison gangs essentially run their lockups, the preponderance of smug ... More >>

Mayor (Finally) Takes Stand Against Pot Sales

Mayor V.​As the City Council worked out a compromise to come up with an pot-shop ordinance that they and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich can agree on, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa took a stance against the kind of over-the-counter medical marijuana sales that that mark the city's several hundred ... More >>

Chaos in the Casitas

Lawless, south of the border-style speakeasies get a grip on L.A.

The Assassination of Deputy Abel Escalante

A young father had nothing to do with LAPD’s killing of Danny Leon. But he was slain for it

Gangs Lay Low, Rake in Dough

Along the Olympic corridor between Koreatown and downtown, it's been a quiet year for crime. This despite the proximity of two of the largest gangs in the United States, 18th Street and Mara Salvatrucha, which used to be at each others throats.Dennis RomeroLeeward Avenue in Koreatown is Mara Salvatr ... More >>

Early Release Candidate No. 1: Prisoner Najee Ali

The L.A. activist says cut him loose, help the state budget

Ex-Mongol President Pleads Guilty

According to an Associated Press report, former Mongols motorcyle club president Ruben "Doc" Cavazos pleaded guilty in January to a single RICO Act count that could land him in prison for 20 years. The plea, disclosed in court papers filed June 29, will result in Cavazos being sentenced in February, ... More >>

Third Suspect Arrested in Deputy Slaying

The Los Angeles Police Department has arrested a third suspect in the shooting death of an L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy. A fourth man remains at large. "We will bring all those responsible for the murders to justice," said Police Chief William Bratton at a 1 p.m. press conference at Parker Center, ... More >>

Alleged Avenues Gangsters Plead Not Guilty to Cop Killing

Two alleged Avenues gangsters pleaded not guilty in downtown Los Angeles today to capital murder charges stemming from the August 2 shooting of a 27-year-old Los Angeles County Sheriff Deputy as he was preparing to go to work at the Men's Central Jail. Juan Escalante was shot from behind about five ... More >>

Gang Ties that Bind: Drew Street Gangsters Linked to Cop Killing

The murder shocked the conscience of a crime-scarred community. The arrest of two suspects showed the far-reaching influence of a notorious street gang.But revelations that one of the two men accused of murdering a young deputy sheriff belonged to an extended family of criminals, presided over by a ... More >>

Throwing the Book at Najee Ali

Four years? Robbers get less time than the hated/loved black activist

Prayer Vigil held for Fallen Deputy

Over 100 family members, friends, neighbors, local politicians, police and firefighters attended a prayer vigil last night for a sheriff’s deputy who was gunned down outside his parent’s home in Cypress Park on August 2. “It takes a lot of courage to be here,” said Councilman Ed Reyes who w ... More >>

Shooting of Deputy Still Remains a Mystery

Los Angeles Police Department detectives still don’t have a clue as to why a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy was gunned down outside his parent’s home in Cypress Park on August 2. Deputy Juan Abel Escalante, who was assigned to guard the county’s most dangerous inmates at Men's Central Ja ... More >>

California Prisons' Big Group Hug

Under court order, races must co-exist

Avenues Gang Indicted; Many Members Still-at-large

A multi-agency task force of 500 law enforcement officers swooped down on members of the avenues gang on Drew Street yesterday morning. The crackdown netted 32 members or associates of the “Drew Street” clique of the avenues. The operation, which began at 4 a.m., stemmed from a massive 157-page ... More >>

Major Law Enforcement Crack down Nets the Gangsters of Drew Street

A multi-agency task force of 500 law enforcement officers swooped down on members of the avenues gang on Drew Street early this morning. The crackdown netted 32 members or associates of the “Drew Street” clique of the avenues. The operation, which began at 4 a.m., stemmed from a massive 157-pa ... More >>

Hector Marroquin's Revenge

Feds arrest “No Guns” activist for selling guns, while L.A. politicians duck

Did City Hall Fund a Gun-Runner?

Feds arrest Hector Marroquin, of the purported �No Guns� anti-gang program

Broken Bridges

Did City Hall’s plan to fight gangs bankroll a gangster?

''They Wanted All Blacks Out''

Federal trial exposes the Avenues of hate

Jailhouse Hope

Community leaders and the sheriff talk peace and the riots� cause

Avenues of Death

How Highland Park�s Latino gang targets African-Americans

Bad Night for the Vineland Boyz

Huge raid could be a mortal blow to notorious Valley gang

Who�ll Stop the Reign?

The big trial is over, netting several convictions -- read last year's story on the U.S. versus the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang

Mike Davis� 6 Remarkable Ways To Die

Beyond the Verdict

The real Rampart scandal is citywide

Gimme Some Truth

Gang members make or break Rampart case