City attorney getting $5 million from downtown street gang [UPDATED]

In what officials described as a first, City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo announced this morning that his office secured a $5-million civil judgment against the 5th and Hill gang, which for decades dominated the heroin trade in downtown L.A.

The judgment marks the first secured after a 2007 state law was passed allowing county and city prosecutors to go after a gang’s ill-gotten assets.

Once the money is collected from 11 of the gang’s members named in the lawsuit, a general fund will be set up for the downtown community, and the money will be used to undo the damage from the gang’s operations, said a spokesman for the city attorney.

"This is a whole new front that we're waging against these gang members," Delgadillo said. "It's new to them, it's new to us, but it feels like we're winning."

The 5th and Hill gang was the target of a major crackdown by the LAPD in 2007. According to detectives, the leaders lived in the suburbs and other parts of L.A., where they produced thousands of heroin balloons at their homes and then had middlemen deliver them downtown. There, day laborers, homeless people and even children as young as 12 allegedly helped peddle the heroin.

At the time, the LAPD said it had dismantled what was the main source of heroin in Los Angeles. It was able to go after the gang kingpins, detectives said, because of video surveillance tapes that tracked the movement of drugs in and out of downtown.

Next up, officials said, is the 18th Street gang.

The city attorney filed a lawsuit last month seeking damages from nine imprisoned leaders of the gang, who allegedly profited from “street taxes” from residents while in prison.

-- Victoria Kim

Photo: A mural defaced by a 5th and Hill gang tag in 2007. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Updated at 12:53 p.m.

Comments

[BW]

That's good that the city can go after the profits/assets of the gangs. It's about time. I hope it makes it easier to acquire the 'ill-gotten gains' from the gangs in the future. I also hope it doesn't stop at gangs that deals with drugs, I hope this will allow ALL gangs be accountable/responsible to paying for their damages.

[Robinhoodlum]

Nasty business - great job!

[Poliphilo]

Journalism DID die in 2008. This story looks more like a junior high newspaper story than from the LA Times. How are they going to collect? Who, specifically, are they going to collect from? What assets can they seize? When will they collect? How about a little journalism, Times? Amateurs.

[Southoc]

Yes, small victories.

[LennyP]

Now if they would only do that to Wall Street and Too Big Businesses.

[O-town]

While we're at it, let's double check that they're U.S. citizens and if they're not, deport them too. No point in spending tax dollars to feed, house, and clothe them in the prisons.

[humberto]

thats good that la is finally takein down gangs. that just what we need in this city.

[Mike]

$5 million from drug-dealing gang bangers sounds swell on its face, but I'd love to know the odds of whether the city attorney will ever collect, or whether this is a hollow victory.

Is there evidence these 11 gang members actually have or control such funds? What penalties apply if they can't cough up the cash? Or, is all of this simply a public relations stunt, an easily-won judgment that's impossible to collect?

[eric]

This is a front page article?

Six paragraphs now constitutes a front page article?!?!

Oohh.... but what a nice picture!

[George Seldes]

@Robinhoodlum: This is a blog and likely is available for reporters to press news quickly to handle the timely items for their web coverage. I wouldn't be surprised if a longer piece came later with more reporting.

If you want anything more than a blog hit, you would need to give the reporter more than three hours to pry quotes out of sources who are likely leaning on a canned statement.

And if you want a feature of 5,000 words or more, that takes days or weeks, not hours.

But you're looking at a blog post that was constructed in less than an hour and holding it to that standard. In the web world, with the Times fighting blogs of all stripes for ad bucks, quick is preferred to complete.

So blame your own reading habits for the state of that paper. It's the way that you consume media that drive their business model, not the other way around.

[I'm just sayin'...]

Ok, journalism comments aside, throw this onto the fire now: after the endless legality of trying to capture funds and freeze assets from prison inmates who only make pennies on the dollar, you have to ask yourself," is it really worth it?"

We're talking about a state who is going to be issuing your tax return via IOU's. Meanwhile, we're spending tax payers money to pursue funds from guys who will only evade paying restitution. Do you honestly think those criminals are going to pay $5 million in charges/fee to LA? Hell no! They're laughing as how ignorant as to how much WE'VE spend pursuing things such as this BS. Don't blame the journalist for bring this to your attention, rather, blame your local law makers for not thinking beyond their own wallet, but with yours..

[Chazpanga Canyon]

I agree with George Seldes. And Mr. Robinhoodlum, your question of "Who, specifically, are they going to collect from?" is grammatically incorrect; you should've written, "From whom, specifically, are they going to collect?"

[SD]

I agree with O town.

Not to be a racist or ignorant but most (not all) of these gang members are illegal immigrants. These people have nothing to add to society. They have no respect for Life, or anything that's dear to other honest people.

I live on the east side near downtown LA as a white American male. I see these "people" everyday. They not only are violent in nature but pollute the areas with their dirt and graffiti. Dumb trash on the street, look at you like your the last scum on earth and harass you with their uneducated little minds.

I know so many other people who are good people, working, paying taxes and still waiting for their green cards. Why should these gang people be put in jail here so that tax money has to pay for it? If they are legally here I guess thats one thing but for crying out loud if they don't just DEPORT them.

Sorry for the rant but im so sick and tied of these gangs. LA is becoming a dumpster and we need to do something about it. I will stand for every honest, hard working human being on this planet.

[ap]

i hope legislation is passed to define the extent to which these damages can be sought. wouldn't want the city to get carried away with their new toy and start using it like eminent domain.

[ap]

"So blame your own reading habits for the state of that paper. It's the way that you consume media that drive their business model, not the other way around."

guy, what are you babbling about. the blog entry is featured prominently on the front page as if it were just like any other piece on the homepage. complaining that is not in fact of the same quality as every other link you could view does not seem unfair.what the commenter inelegantly said was, "Please mark blog posts that are prominently featured, as such"

plus, you addressed the wrong commenter. blame your reading habits for that.

[christian]

Waow. So now it is ok to be a drugdealer as long as you pay your dues to the city. Who's the big boss now? Who's collecting taxtes on who now? Why not tax all drugs and have control at the same time?

[walter block]

So now we are legitimizing GANGS in Los Angeles! Just get rid of the gangs period! Find a place for the gangs out of the mainstream and let them kill each other off. Let's see if anyone can actually collect this judgement. Phony publicity at the forefront.

[Dave9]

More to the point, for those who are complaining about the quality of journalism in the LATimes, how many of you are actually paying for a print copy of the paper? How do you expect reporters and editors to be paid for the time they spend on their stories?

[PCT]

Thanks pilophilo for your comment. It's astonishing how little information this nubbin of an article provides. The big question, of course, is, "How does a city collect millions from a gang?" Hello? L.A. Times?

[sergio morales]

leave them alone their doing what they have to do when they dont have jobs and have to support their families

[Brady Westwater]

They arrested not just the guys on the street - but the leaders who had expensive suburban homes and other real estate holdings - so the five million might be collectible. Or at least it might have been at last year's prices...

[AlanP]

Fantastic news... this was how the gang & drug problems in Ireland began to disappear.

[James]

"leave them alone their doing what they have to do when they dont have jobs and have to support their families

Posted by: sergio morales | January 13, 2009 at 01:52 PM"

Well why don't they get jobs Sergio Morales???? I guess you feel its ok for people to profit off of drugs and violence because they don't want to get a job? I guess with a last name like Morales we should be asking to see your green card. If I were you I would find the tallest building and jump off it before your idiotic comments make your race look even more like the animals they portray themselves as.

[jc]

This is a start, in the 80's and 90's it was about chasing them down and locking them up. Since then gangs have gotten sophisticated and are hustling more then ever to make a buck (at anyones expense). The gang bangers need to be brought to justice! Deport them! take away their assets! The authorities need to be more aggressive. Their are to many innocent lives being lost to drugs and violence. Los Angeles is a beautiful city that needs to be taken away from the thugs that run the street.

[JAMES FERGUSON]

Outstanding accomplishment!! This is the first step on a journey of a thousand miles. I have recently read that in 1980 California ranked first, among large states, in adults with at least a high school diploma but it now ranks 49th among all states. I looked at LAPD's most wanted site today and saw that 99 percent are hispanic. Walk around and see the bars on the windows. It all looks like Mexico City in 1980. The honorable hispanic people are disgusted by this trash. LA has become Norte Mejico and California is broke from paying for it. Build the fence higher and send them back to where they came from. Only then will the crime wave be over.

[jojo]

"leave them alone their doing what they have to do when they dont have jobs and have to support their families

Posted by: sergio morales

another racist "latino" defending the indefensible...
kick em ALL out i say, back to the head chopping failed narco state they came from.

[Anna]

This article leaves the reader with a lot more questions than answers. Please follow this up with more info.

[John]

Great news! It's about time.
Now how do you collect money from a gang?

[Jake]

As long as Mayor Antonio and Councilman Reyes control downtown - deportation is not in the vocabulary. At Sixth and Alvarado I have seen the same gangsters selling false identification documents and drugs - DAILY! The New York Times did an article - in 1991 - about how easy it is to get a fake ID at Sixth and Alvarado!

At MacArthur Park, it is such a pleasure to see our sanctuary citizens using memorials to Americans and Hungarian victims of communism as target practice for their soccer balls - and the police do nothing because they know their careers will be squashed if they infringe on someone's illegal conduct due to 'cultural differences' - as a police officer told me in private.

Experiment: If you're black, asian, or white, go sell illegally downloaded dvds in front of either Antonio's house or Councilman Reyes' house - and see what happens. If you're an illegal alien - you'll be ok, and just told to move on to MacArthur Park.

[steve rodriguez]

Forget gang money! Just rid LA of all gangs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gangs and illegal immigration has ruined our standard
of living in LA!!!!!