Free Republic

Note: The following text is a quote: MS-13 Gunman Sentenced 80 Years for Attempted Murder ALEXANDRIA, VA—Dennis L. Gil Bernardez, 33, of Landover, Md., the gunman in an MS-13 shooting, was sentenced to 80 years in prison today for attempting to murder rival gang members on Oct. 6, 2008, at a park near homes in Reston, Va. His accomplice, Jose M. Aguilar Orantes, 18, of Reston, Va., who provided the firearm, was sentenced to 55 years in prison for his role in the attempted murders. A third member, Carlos B. Guzman Cruz, 25, of Richmond, Va., was sentenced to 144...

RICHMOND, California — Four teens were charged Wednesday in the gang rape and beating of a 15-year-old girl outside her high school homecoming dance in Northern California, in an attack that has generated widespread outrage. All four — ages 15, 16, 17 and 19 — were charged with rape and enhancements that they acted in concert, which could make them eligible for life in prison.

Crackdowns on illegal immigrants and other law enforcement efforts are driving gangs out of Northern Virginia and into Maryland and the District, a report released Monday concluded. "Many gang members from Northern Virginia are moving or driving to Prince George's and other Maryland counties, into the District of Columbia or further south and west into Virginia to avoid dealing with police departments that are unrelenting in their efforts to keep gangs under control," authorities wrote in the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force report. The report said the task force's success is the result of Virginia law enforcement's use of...

They decapitate, torture, and extort. Then they pray, and donate to charity.The "Familia" cartel is perhaps the most extreme example of the paradoxical enemy which Mexico faces as it tries to defeat organised crime. It is a fight which would be much easier if the cartels were simply maverick gangs on the fringe of society. But they are, in many areas, part of society. "La Familia was originally a social structure. And in many ways it still is," says a former Mexico deputy attorney general and organised crime expert, Prof Samuel Gonzalez Ruiz.

October 22, 2009 Note: The following text is a quote: http://milwaukee.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/mw102209.htm Forty-One Defendants Federally Indicted in Racine Gang Case United States Attorney Michelle L. Jacobs announced today that two indictments were unsealed in federal court charging 41 defendants with various drug-trafficking offenses. The defendants, many of whom are alleged to be members of the Vice Lords and North Side Gangster Disciples street gangs, are charged with, among other things, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(A) and 846. The defendants are identified as: Starsius T. Barnes, a.k.a. “Star” (32), Brian T....

EL PASO, Texas — An alleged Mexican gang leader named to the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list may have surgically altered his face and changed his finger prints to hide his identity, federal investigators said Wednesday. Eduardo "Tablas" Ravelo was added earlier this week to the wanted list that includes the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Boston crime lord James "Whitey" Bulger. "From what I've heard, it's my understanding he may have had ... plastic surgery and manipulated his finger prints," said Samantha Mikeska, the FBI's lead investigator in a 5-year-old probe of Ravelo's Barrio Azteca gang. If Ravelo...

A white pupil was battered with a hammer at a school where politically correct teachers were afraid to deal with racial tensions, the High Court heard yesterday...

A late-night disagreement between two men in a bar becomes a stare-down. One side throws fists, and a brief brawl breaks out. Customers scatter. Tables are overturned. Friends on the sidelines straighten their postures and walk tough. Others grab their coats and head for the door. Some physical commotion is not uncommon at evening establishments where alcohol is served. But it's what happened next on Thursday evening inside the Route 66 Kitchen in West Toledo that has unsettled some Toledoans. With surveillance cameras rolling, several figures pulled out handguns and engaged in a shootout that raged inside and outside the...

Note: The following text is a quote: Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, October 2, 2009 Three Gang Members Plead Guilty to Murder and Drug Conspiracy Charges; Two Others Sentenced on Drug Charges Three members of the violent gang known as the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) pleaded guilty today to charges related to their participation in a drive-by shooting and a drug conspiracy, and two other members were sentenced for their roles in a drug conspiracy. Robert Allen Ramirez, aka "Nesyo," 27, of Big Spring, Texas; Eduardo Daniel Mares, aka "Pitt," 21,...

CHICAGO -- Prosecutors have charged four teenagers with first-degree murder in the beating death of a student who was walking home from school. Family members believe the victim, 16-year-old Derrion Albert, was fatally beaten Thursday for refusing to join a gang. Charged with first-degree murder are Silvonus Shannon, 19, Eugene Riley, 18, Eric Carson, 16, and Eugene Bailey, 18, according to the Cook County state attorney's office. Shannon, Riley and Carson were ordered held without bond Monday. Bailey was due in bond court Tuesday. Chicago police said they were looking for at least three more suspects, but would not discuss...

New York, NY (AHN) - Four young men accused of gang-raping a Hofstra University freshman in a dorm toilet have been released from jail after their alleged victim recanted her charges against them. Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice told reporters at a news conference Thursday that the 16-year-old student withdrew her story after a lengthy interview with prosecutors late Wednesday. A lawyer of one of the accused also said the accuser's description of the alleged gang rape does not match with the scene shown on a short cell phone video of the incident taken by a fifth man she...

Note: The following text is a quote: September 11, 2009 ICE works with local law enforcement to arrest 23 gang members BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Twenty men, two women and one juvenile with ties to the violent gangs Sureno-13, La Quemada, MS 13, Brown Pride 13, Southside Locotes, Lejion Negra (Mexico) and Judas 13 (Mexico) are facing deportation following a four-day enforcement operation involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and several local law enforcement agencies. The arrests were made as part of an ongoing initiative by ICE's National Gang Unit dubbed Operation Community Shield. As part of the initiative, ICE...

CNN) -- A U.S. soldier arrested in connection with the killing of a Mexican drug cartel member in El Paso, Texas, allegedly worked as a hit man, court records show. Michael Jackson Apodaca, 18, a soldier based at Fort Bliss, was one of three men arrested Monday in connection with the shooting death of the mid-level drug cartel member, who also worked as a drug informant for the United States, according to a complaint affidavit and local reports. Police identified the other suspects as Ruben Rodriguez Dorado, 30, and Christopher Andrew Duran, 17. The three men each face one count...

More than Mexicans Crossing the Border byPaul L. Williams, Ph.D.thelastcrusade.org [caption id="attachment_887" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="MS-13 Member with Arabic tatoos (Police Photograph)"][/caption] Al Qaeda and the Latino Gang-Bangers The situation at the border now poses a grave threat to national security. Agent Mike Scioli of the U.S. Border Patrol confirms that the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol is facing a worsening problem with Mara Salvatrucha, a Salvadoran street gang that now controls the flow of arms, drugs, and illegal aliens into the U.S. Two members of the violent gang were collared last week in Tucson and Nogales. Twenty have...

For those interested in exploring one of the greatest internal and transnational threats to the United States, there is a new book out today by Samuel Logan, This is For the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America's Most Violent Gang. The book traces the history of Brenda Paz, a young Honduran who joins MS-13 and eventually becomes the most effective police witness against the organization, before she was killed. But besides the individual story, the book shows just how powerful and ruthless the MS-13 has become. Given that it now has chapters in thousands of cities across the United States,...

Note: The following text is a quote: Wife of Gang Leader Pleads Guilty to Narcotics Charges On the day her trial was to begin in U.S. District Court in Lubbock, Texas, Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation (ALKQN) member Marie Chavez, aka "Shorty," the wife of an alleged ALKQN leader Jose Nava, aka "Chino," pleaded guilty to a superseding indictment charging her and 16 co-defendants with various offenses related to alleged narcotics and weapons trafficking and violent activities. Specifically, Chavez, 28, of Lubbock, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute five kilograms...

Note: The following text is a quote: Highlighting Recent FBI Gang Investigations The U.S. is seeing a rise in gang membership across the country and as membership spreads from urban to suburban areas, so does the associated criminal activity. Gangs are involved not only in auto theft, assault, home invasions, armed robbery, and extortion, but also in fraud, identity theft, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, alien smuggling, and murder. “As our communities are exposed to higher levels of crime and violence, the FBI, along with local, state, and federal partners, are responding with an even greater measure of significant law enforcement...

Facefwd.com <> The charges stemmed from an incident at a Philadelphia polling place on Election Day when three members of the party were accused of trying to threaten voters and block poll and campaign workers by the threat of force - one even brandishing what prosecutors call a deadly weapon. The three black panthers, Minister King Samir Shabazz, Malik Zulu Shabazz and Jerry Jackson were charged in a civil complaint in the last days of the Bush administration with violating the voter rights act by using coercion, threats and intimidation. Shabazz allegedly held a nightstick or baton that prosecutors said...

SAN FRANCISCO—Emile Fort was sentenced yesterday to 496 months in prison, five years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine to the Victim’s of Crime Fund, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced. Yesterday’s sentence was the result of a plea agreement that was entered into by Fort and the United States on March 3, when Fort pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to conduct the affairs of a racketeering influenced corrupt organization in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962(d). Fort, 28, admitted to being an associate of the Down Below Gang -...

The law finally caught up with an alleged gang member who police say held down his 7-year-old son while a fellow gang-banger tattooed the boy's belly with the group's insignia. Police say 26-year-old Enrique Gonzales held down his 7-year-old son while another gang member tattoed the group's insignia on his belly. Fresno cops arrested Enrique Gonzalez, 26, at hotel in the Sierra foothills and booked him for investigation of mayhem, child abuse, false imprisonment, battery, participating in a criminal street gang and committing a crime for the benefit of a gang, Police Chief Jerry Dyer said. Gonzales, a member of...