Second RICO Indictment Unsealed Today Focuses on Pomona-Area
Gangs that Operated Under Orders Issued by the Notorious Prison Gang
LOS ANGELES
– More than 500 law enforcement personnel executed a major operation this
morning, taking into custody 32 defendants who are charged in two federal
racketeering indictments, one of which outlines how members of the Mexican
Mafia were able to control drug smuggling, narcotics sales and the extortion of
prisoners inside the Los Angeles County jail system (LACJ).
The
defendants arrested this morning are among 83 defendants who were charged by a
federal grand jury in the two indictments unsealed today. A total of 35
defendants are already in custody in state prison or county jail facilities and
are expected to be brought to federal court in the near future. Authorities
continue to search for 16 fugitive who are expected to be arrested in the near
future.
The
indictments – which allege a host of criminal violations, including
conspiracies to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
(RICO) – detail the power structure of the Mexican Mafia and its violent
exercise of authority over Latino street gangs in Southern California and
inside the sprawling LACJ.
According to
the indictment that focuses on the LACJ, a criminal enterprise led by members
of the Mexican Mafia allegedly engaged in five broad areas of criminal
activities that collectively served to enrich members of the enterprise and to
maintain control and authority over LACJ, which includes the Men’s Central Jail
and the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown Los Angeles. The criminal
offenses carried out by this enterprise fall generally into five categories:
the Mexican
Mafia-sanctioned smuggling of drugs into LACJ, narcotics that were sold to
inmates to generate profits for the enterprise;
the “taxing” of
other drugs smuggled into LACJ in what the indictment labels “widespread
extortion”;
another LACJ
extortion scheme in which all Latino inmates were required to contribute a
percentage of their commissary spending on food and hygiene items into a
“kitty” that generated additional income for the Mexican Mafia member when the
kitty was sold to an inmate;
the disciplining
and extortion – through assaults and fines – of Mexican Mafia associates who
ran afoul of the rules imposed by the organization; and
money laundering
of the criminal proceeds from these activities.
“These cases
have delivered a major blow to the Mexican Mafia and leaders of many of the
street gangs under the control of the organization,” said United States
Attorney Nick Hanna. “By taking out the gang members who control the jails, and
by disrupting their communications network, we undermined the Mexican Mafia’s
ability to coordinate street gang activity.”
Today’s
takedown is the result of an investigation done under the auspices of the FBI’s
San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Task Force, which is made up of agents and
officers with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Los Angeles County
Sheriff’s Department, the Pomona Police Department, the Drug Enforcement
Administration and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
(CDCR).
“Gang
violence in the jails also spills over to the streets and adversely affects our
communities,” said Paul Delacourt, the Assistant Director in Charge of the
FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “This three-year investigation focused on
players at all levels for their role in the conspiracy – from the shot-caller,
to the secretary, to the dealer, to the smuggler. Today’s successful operation
is a direct result of law enforcement partners working cooperatively at all
levels of government.”
The jails
indictment focuses on a period when Mexican Mafia member Jose Landa-Rodriguez
and two now-deceased members of the prison gang allegedly controlled the
criminal enterprise in LACJ. The indictment explains how Landa-Rodriguez, who
was incarcerated in LACJ at the time, and other leaders of the enterprise
exercised power with the help of trusted “shot-callers,” facilitators and
associates. “These Mexican Mafia members and associates, working together to
control criminal activity within LACJ, have become their own entity or
enterprise and effectively function as an illegal government within LACJ
custody facilities,” the indictment states.
Landa-Rodriquez, 55, orchestrated a host of criminal activities,
according to the indictment, which alleges that he sanctioned murders, a series
of assaults, and the kidnapping and planned murder of the relative of a gang
member who had defied him.
A second
Mexican Mafia member, Luis Vega, 33, is named as the number 2 defendant in the
LACJ indictment. Vega allegedly ordered a murder and directed assaults against
those who showed disrespect or failed to follow Mexican Mafia rules.
“Operation Dirty Thirds lifts the veil on only
one aspect of the complicated factors behind inmate-on-inmate assaults and the
dangers to our custody staff,” said Sheriff Jim McDonnell. “Many assaults have
been directed, and carried out, by the Mexican Mafia and are documented in this
investigation that took more than four years.”
One of the
key facilitators for Landa-Rodriguez allegedly was attorney Gabriel
Zendejas-Chavez, who was arrested this morning. The indictment, which notes
that attorneys are particularly valued members of the operation because
attorney-client privilege can serve as a shield to conceal criminal activity
from law enforcement, accuses Zendejas-Chavez of conveying messages and orders
related to the criminal enterprise. According to the indictment,
Zendejas-Chavez travelled to state and federal prisons to convey messages to
Mexican Mafia members, including those incarcerated at ADX Florence; conveyed
information, including the names of people potentially cooperating with law enforcement,
to members of the LACJ racketeering enterprise; and facilitated a plot to
extort $100,000 from the Mongols outlaw motorcycle gang.
Inside the
jails, drug trafficking generated revenues for leaders of the criminal
enterprise in two ways, according to the indictment. Once narcotics were
smuggled into jail facilities at the direction of the Mexican Mafia members and
their shot-callers, the narcotics were sold to inmates – and those who
possessed other narcotics were not allowed to sell their drugs until the
Mexican Mafia member’s drugs were sold. Second, the Mexican Mafia collected a
“thirds” tax on all other drugs smuggled into LACJ. This meant that one-third
of all narcotics smuggled into LACJ had to be “broken-off” and given to the Mexican
Mafia member or his shot-caller in control of the facility. If the Mexican
Mafia member decided to sell the “thirds-tax” portion of the drugs, others in
the facility were prohibited from selling drugs until the Mexican Mafia member
had sold his “thirds.” This rule led to the name of the investigation:
Operation “Dirty Thirds.”
“The Mexican
Mafia prison gang is a key component of the illicit drug supply chain, largely
controlling narcotics distribution perpetrated by violent street gangs,” said
DEA Special Agent in Charge David J. Downing. “Extinguishing La eMe’s ability
to facilitate organized rackets, drug crimes, and associated violence is a top
priority for DEA, and we’re embedded with countless law enforcement partners in
this ongoing effort.”
“CDCR and
the Office of Correctional Safety would like to thank our partners in the San
Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Gang Task Force,” said John Prelip, CDCR Special
Service Unit Special Agent-In-Charge. “We know the Mexican Mafia operates within
state prisons to conduct criminal activities on the outside through very
sophisticated networks. Our hope is that investigations such as these send a
message to these gangs that law enforcement – both inside and outside prisons
or jails – will continue to work together to dismantle their operations, and
protect the community.”
The second
RICO indictment unsealed today focuses on a second criminal enterprise that
allegedly was run by another incarcerated member of the Mexican Mafia, Michael
Lerma, 61, also known as “Pomona Mike.” Lerma exercised control over, and
extorted drug proceeds from, Latino street gangs in and around Pomona, as well
as from incarcerated Latinos in Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County.
Members of Lerma’s criminal enterprise also allegedly engaged in robberies,
identity theft and fraud, drug trafficking, kidnapping, and other acts of
violence. Lerma profited from these criminal activities when top-level female
associates known as “señoras” deposited proceeds into his prison account,
according to the indictment.
In one
incident alleged in the indictment, members of Lerna’s criminal enterprise
attempted to steal a Mercedes-Benz automobile that was owned by a LACJ inmate.
When the caretaker of the car refused to turn over the vehicle, one of the
defendants named in the indictment shot him. In another incident allegedly
involving members of Lerma’s organization, a woman was kidnapped, held for
several days while being extorted for money, and was going to be murdered
before the plot was disrupted by law enforcement.
“The Pomona
community certainly suffered from the criminal acts of those indicted,” said
Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri. “I am very pleased with the success of
this long-term investigation, and I am looking forward to more collaboration
with our law enforcement partners in future investigations.”
The two
indictments unsealed today charge a host of criminal offenses, including
conspiracy to engage in racketeering activity; violent crimes in aid of
racketeering activity; carjacking; conspiracy to distribute and possess with
intent to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana;
distribution of and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances;
money laundering; possession of at least 15 access devices (credit card
numbers); aggravated identity theft; and use, possession or discharge of a
firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime. If
convicted, most of the defendants could be sentenced to decades in federal
prison, and some could face life without parole.
An
indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every
defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
Most of the
defendants arrested this morning are expected to be arraigned on the
indictments this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los
Angeles.
Operation
Dirty Thirds was conducted by the FBI’s San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Task
Force. The Pomona Police Department is the sponsoring agency of the Task Force
and has been the headquarters for the task force since its inception in 2008.
A number of
law enforcement agencies provided substantial assistance during this morning’s
takedown, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland
Security Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives; the Ontario Police Department; IRS Criminal Investigation and other
agencies.
The RICO cases are being prosecuted by
Assistant United States Attorneys Max B. Shiner and Shawn J. Nelson.
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