Free Republic

Suspected gang members who are in the country illegally and are arrested for even minor crimes could face quicker deportation under new policies unveiled Wednesday by the top two prosecutors in Los Angeles. City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo and L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said they are partnering more closely with federal immigration officials and attorneys to identify the gang members for deportation, adding that illegal immigrants appear to make up a significant portion of the gang population. The partnership with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement marks a departure for local law enforcement, which generally keeps federal immigration officials at...

A recent spot check by federal agents found that 59 street gang members in Southern California jails are illegal immigrants subject to deportation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement named the deportable gang members during a first-of-its-kind screening of some inmates last month. The review is continuing, and in the first year officials expect to identify up to 800 gang members who are in this country illegally, said Jim Hayes, director of the Los Angeles field office. The focus on inmates' immigration status comes as Los Angeles pushes for federal agencies to help crack down on gang crime. The report has...

LOS ANGELES Three members of a Hispanic gang were sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for using murder and other violent acts to intimidate blacks in their neighborhood. Federal prosecutors had alleged Gilbert Saldana, Alejandro Martinez and Fernando Cazares targeted blacks in the largely Hispanic community of Highland Park, east of downtown Los Angeles. They were found guilty of conspiring to use violence, including the shooting deaths of two black men in 1999 and 2000. "These were horrific offenses that have had far-reaching consequences," U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson said during sentencing. Each defendant received...

Sep 15, 2006 - Three months after a teenage girl's body was found in the back of a truck at a tow yard, Fresno Police have announced new developments in the case.

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- A Silver Spring woman reported to police Tuesday evening that she was raped early Monday morning. According to police, the 35-year-old woman said she was walking home from work between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Piney Branch Road near Long Branch Park when a man armed with a machete approached her. "He forced her into a wooded area of Long Branch Park and there raped her," said Montgomery County Police spokeswoman Lucille Baur.

LEVITTOWN, Pennsylvania (June 6) - A deal is being negotiated that would allow a high school's class president to participate in Friday's graduation ceremony despite concern that he could be targeted by a gang. Tyrone Lewis, 18, had been scheduled to be one of the speakers at the Truman High School commencement ceremony, but police were worried that he could be targeted by a gang from Trenton, New Jersey, because his sister had testified in a murder trial. Lewis had been barred from the ceremony. Dave Truelove, the Bristol Township School District's solicitor, confirmed Tuesday that talks are in progress...

COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) — A Columbus man asked for directions early Monday, but the two pedestrians from whom he sought help stole his car instead. Keith Stroman, 21, told Columbus police he stopped his 1995 Chevrolet Camaro at an intersection on the south side of town around 2:50 a.m. to ask two men for directions. Instead of answering his question, one of the men pulled a silver gun and ordered Stroman out of his car. The carjackers got into the Camaro, valued at $4,000, and drove away, police said. Stroman was not injured.

Two Queens gang members were busted yesterday, accused of blowing away a female pal at a drug-laced party for the hell of it, law enforcement sources said. Ramiro Pineda, 20, and William Ramirez, 22, were slapped with murder charges in the shooting death of Maria Rubio early Tuesday in a College Point apartment, cops said. Sources gave a chilling account of the slaying, which occurred when Pineda and Ramirez, both of Flushing, were partying with Rubio and other men in a second-floor 130th St. pad. "Let's shoot the b----," one suspect said, and fired, hitting Rubio, a source said. "No,...

Armed with an injunction that makes it illegal for gang members to gather in public, police have swarmed a neighborhood near Roeding Park. But the Parkside Bulldogs say the injunction violates their civil rights.