Anti-gang workers struggle to stay out of gang life

The arrest of a nationally recognized anti-gang leader in Los Angeles today underscores the difficulties some gang intervention workers face in staying out of their old lives. Here are some other examples of anti-gang leaders accused of misdeeds:

MARLO 'BOW WOW' JONES

In January, Jones, a well-known gang intervention worker in South Los Angeles, was arrested on charges of robbing and beating a member of the rap group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony at the Universal City Hilton hotel. Jones, a former member of the Grape Street Crips, helped prevent retaliatory shootings and had worked on a gang reduction effort with USC football Coach Pete Carroll.

Jones had served seven years in state prison after being convicted of robbery and narcotics charges. Even after he became a gang intervention officer, he continued to have trouble with the law. In  October, he pleaded no contest to felony spousal abuse and was placed on five years' probation, according to police and prosecutors. His trial in connection with his January arrest is pending.

MARIO CORONA

A year ago, Corona, once a top official with the Communities in Schools group, which helped former gang members secure jobs, was sentenced to 32 months in prison for drug violations after his arrest by Los Angeles police for possession of a pound of methamphetamine.

HECTOR 'BIG WEASEL' MARROQUIN

Marroquin, the director of the anti-gang organization No Guns, pleaded guilty last year to illegally selling assault weapons to federal undercover officers and was sentenced to eight years in state prison. In 1996, Marroquin formed No Guns, which he said was dedicated to mediating gang wars and stopping gun violence in besieged neighborhoods. Marroquin told The Times that he had turned away from a life of crime and gangs.

He claimed to have helped more than 60 gang members find jobs in labor unions. The city's anti-gang program, L.A. Bridges, eventually contracted with No Guns to provide gang intervention services, to fill a void of Latino anti-gang organizations in the area. The city ended up paying No Guns $1.5 million over a three-year period. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department even used Marroquin as a mediator in race riots at the Pitchess Detention Center. The case that led to Marroquin’s imprisonment grew out of an investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into gun sales by the 18th Street gang.

-- Andrew Blankstein

Comments

[Tom M.]

Once a thug, always a thug....end o' story...

[Linda Stewart]

It is just wasted taxpayer money. People can't even get sidewalks fix in front of their property but there is money for anti-gang programs that don't and never will work. Stop all monies to those programs.

[grod]

Let’s get a broad prospective on this. When a man of the cloth devotes his life to service and suddenly he’s alleged to have molested a child, we don’t say, but look at all the good he has done for countless other kids. Now, I’m not saying Sanchez is a child molester, but if he committed the crimes he is alleged to have, he should be punished to the fullest extent of the law, regardless of all the good he has done previous.

This allegation definitely gives a black-eye to the legitimacy of countless gang interventionist, who has and still provides a much needed service to our community.

The above statement can be made in regards to LAPD (Rampart and the beating of Rodney King). The point is one rotten apple doesn’t spoil the bunch. There is good and bad in all social and economic walks of life, so to paint a whole group of interventionist with a broad brush is narrow minded and ignorant.

There are a lot of arm chair critics and Monday morning quarterbacks that act like they have the answer to our cities gang epidemic. The truth is, there is no one cure, it going to take a community (education, after school programs, community based organizations, foundations, clergy and law enforcement) to fix this problem. Complaining about a problem has never fixed it. People have grown accustom to complaining, but rarely have or want to be a part of the solution. Complaining does nothing more than fall on def ear.

Lastly, don’t rely on third hand information, that is to say don’t believe everything you hear, take the time to investigate/research and draw a conclusion from your finding, you’ll find this much more gratifying.