Sentencing set for gang leader, son in attacks on blacks in Azusa

A leader of the Azusa 13 street gang and his son are scheduled to be sentenced Monday in federal court after pleading guilty to conspiring to attack blacks and force them to leave the city.

Santiago Rios faces a maximum of 30 years in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess. His son, Louie Rios, faces up to 20 years in prison.

The Rioses and 49 other Azusa gang members were arrested in 2011 and charged with a conspiracy to “cleanse” Azusa of its black residents, according to prosecutors.

DOCUMENT: Azusa 13 indictment

All 51 members of the gang arrested in that case have been convicted. Only 10, including the Rioses, remain to be sentenced, said Reema El-Amamy, the federal prosecutor in the case.

Santiago Rios was a reputed Azusa 13 “keyholder” -- a shotcaller anointed by the Mexican Mafia prison gang to tax drug dealers, sell drugs himself and funnel the proceeds to Mafia members, according to a federal plea agreement.

In that position, he implemented an Azusa 13 policy dating to 1992 of targeting and harassing black people in Azusa, according to the agreement. The push to attack blacks was allegedly instigated by Ruben Rodriguez, a Mexican Mafia member from Azusa who has since died.

3 gang members arrested in Nordstrom Rack robbery

Los Angeles police confirmed Sunday evening the arrests of three suspected gang members in the takeover robbery at the Nordstrom Rack in Westchester last week.

The Times first reported two arrests, one on Friday and the second Saturday in Phoenix. Sources familiar with the investigation described the man arrested in Phoenix as a principal suspect but would give no further details.

In a press release Sunday, the LAPD said that a total of three suspects had been arrested but did not give additional details.

Police would not release the suspects’ identities, nor would they detail how the suspects were taken into custody or their alleged roles in the robbery and hostage situation.

Sources said they had strong evidence linking the men to the crime, including physical evidence and security camera video. Prosecutors will decide this week whether to file charges.

The incident began about 11 p.m. Thursday at the Promenade at Howard Hughes Center, near the 405 Freeway. The LAPD called a tactical alert and closed off the area around the shopping center.
When the Police Department's SWAT officers arrived, they surrounded the store. At one point, one suspect exited, saw the police and ran back inside.

A second suspect walked out with an unidentified woman, saw police and also headed back inside. The officers entered the store at 3:30 a.m. and freed the hostages.

At least three of the hostages were injured, including one woman who was sexually assaulted. Another woman was stabbed in the neck and sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and a third employee was pistol-whipped, police said.

L.A. crime decreases for 10th straight year [Google+ hangout]

Times crime reporters Richard Winton and Andrew Blankstein will join city editor Shelby Grad at 2:30 p.m. in a Google+ hangout to discuss decreasing Los Angeles crime rates. 

For the 10th year in a row, Los Angeles crime dropped in 2012 with major decreases in gang crime, city leaders announced Monday. 

Homicides increased for the first time, but by just one, to 298.

Crime L.A.: Mapping crime in L.A. cities and neighborhoods

The overall decline in crime was smaller than in previous years because of jumps in lower-level crimes, such as personal thefts. Cellphone thefts jumped 30%, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said.

There were no obvious explanations for the increase in thefts. Some crime experts said the statistics suggested the years of economic hardship facing many Angelenos may finally be having an impact on crime.

The figures released Monday: 

Homicides: 298 in 2012, up from 297 in 2011

Rape: 773, up 4.9% from 737,

Robbery: 8,953, down 11% from 10,057

Aggravated assault: 8,769, down 6.3% from 8,829

Burglary: 16,135, down 6.4% from 17,231

Grand theft: 14,780, down 3.2% from 15,269

Burglary theft from a vehicle: 26,183, up 2.2% from 25,616

Theft: 28,767, up 4.3% from 27,590

Violent crime: 18,293, down 8.2% from 19,920

Property crime: 85,666, up 0.2% from 85,706

Overall crime: 104,159,down 1.4% from 105,626

Shooting victims: 1,187, down 9.1% from 1,306

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Handcuffed man shot by police identified as 18-year-old

A man who was fatally shot  by a Moreno Valley police officer while lying on the ground handcuffed has been identified as an 18-year-old Ontario resident

Authorities on Saturday said Lamon Khiry Haslip, 18, of Ontario, was shot when officers noticed that he had a handgun.

At the time, Haslip was lying on the ground and handcuffed, but officers said that he had rolled on his side and one “officer backed away from the subject and announced that the subject had a gun,” according to a press release from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

There also was a second officer at the scene, and it was not immediately clear which officer opened fire. Haslip died at the scene.

Officers had been dispatched to Fir Avenue in Moreno Valley on a call about a gang-related "man with a gun" that came in at 8:38 p.m. Friday. The caller said “several males” were in front of a residence “creating a disturbance and brandishing guns,” the release said.

The first officer arrived within two minutes and was told that the suspects had fled in a vehicle. Minutes later, a vehicle with Haslip in it drove by, and the person who had called the police identified the car as one involved in the earlier incident.

When the officer attempted to stop the vehicle, Haslip allegedly attempted to flee on foot. The officer captured Haslip and placed him in handcuffs on the ground, police said.

A second officer arrived just before the shooting. The officers reported finding a gun in Haslip’s possession.

The officer who shot Haslip was placed on administrative leave pending further investigation, which is the department’s policy. No officers were injured.

The Moreno Valley Police Department and the Riverside County Sheriff's Department are seeking witnesses or anyone else with relevant information. They can call the central homicide unit at (951) 955-2777 or the Moreno Valley Police Department at (951) 486-6700.

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-- Howard Blume

Firearms advocates picket L.A. gun buyback

A handful of gun enthusiasts and gun collectors picketed the Van Nuys gun buyback event for most of Wednesday with signs reading "Criminals Love Gun Free Zones" and "Free People Ought to Be Armed."
 
Some picketers used traffic cones to amplify their voices and called the buyback a fraud. They urged those waiting in line to keep their guns.
 
"They're using our tax money to take our guns," cried Bruce Boyer of the Sons of Liberty - L.A., a local gun rights group.
 
"These officers take their guns home at night," he added. "Why shouldn't you?"

Feds seek to dismiss charges against anti-gang leader Alex Sanchez

The U.S. attorney's office has filed a motion to dismiss racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder charges against a nationally recognized anti-gang leader named in a 2009 federal indictment targeting several gang members involved in multiple slayings, extortions and assaults.

The request to dismiss an indictment against Alex Sanchez, executive director of Homies Unidos, comes after three years of legal battles. Sanchez was among two dozen alleged members or associates of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, also known as MS-13, charged in an indictment in 2009.

Federal prosecutors are asking to dismiss the charges without prejudice, leaving the door open for new charges. But in the motion, prosecutors acknowledged that there were issues with information presented to the grand jury. They did not elaborate on their decision. Sanchez's attorney said she could not discuss sealed testimony.

"We applaud the government for conscientiously re-evaluating the case and recognizing that the evidence it presented to the grand jury does not support the charges brought against Alex," said his attorney Amy Jacks. 

"This has been a long time coming but the government has now made the right decision by recommending dismissal of the case against Alex. If the court grants the government's motion, Alex can focus on what he has done so well for many years: helping our community with gang intervention and prevention and promoting peaceful solutions to our conflicts."

But prosecutors made it clear in court papers that they plan to refile some charges against Sanchez.

Former state Sen. Tom Hayden, a friend and prominent Sanchez supporter, said much of case was based on taped conversations, and the prosecution version of who is speaking is in doubt after it was questioned by an expert witness and defense attorneys.

18 arrested in federal crackdown on gang that operated near USC

Federal authorities on Thursday announced a sweeping racketeering indictment against a Mexican Mafia-controlled gang that operated in an L.A. neighborhood just north of USC and was allegedly involved in at least one slaying, drug sales, extortion and robberies.

Eighteen members of the Harpys gang, also known as the Harpys-Dead End gang, were arrested Thursday morning on charges in three federal indictments resulting from “Operation Roman Empire.”

Those arrested include Vianna Roman, 37, daughter of a Mexican Mafia member, Danny Roman, who allegedly controlled the gang while serving a life sentence at Pelican Bay State Prison.

A total of 29 defendants were named in the racketeering indictment, eight of whom were already in state custody. Among them is Miguel Delgado, 18, accused of committing armed robbery against three USC students.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Vianna Roman and her husband, Aaron Soto, 40, traveled to and from Pelican Bay passing along orders from Danny Roman and collecting taxes to be funneled to him through profits the gang made through dealing in methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine and heroin and through extorting businesses, including swap-meet vendors, via threats of violence.

Members of the gang are suspected in the slaying of one gang member who owed a debt, as well as plotting to kill a witness slated to testify against a gang member in a state court case, according to the indictment.

San Diego Hells Angel enforcer gets 21 years on drug conviction

A Hells Angels enforcer has been sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in federal prison on a drug charge linked to the gang's use of violence to dominate the sale of methamphetamine in San Diego neighborhoods.

Michael Edward Ottinger Jr., 43, still faces charges of murder, attempted murder, mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery and criminal threats. Before the drug charge conviction, Ottinger's criminal record included seven felony convictions.

Ottinger was the sergeant-at-arms of the San Diego chapter of the Hells Angels. According to testimony during his trial in federal court, the Hells Angels had awarded Ottinger the "Filthy Few" and "Thug Crew" patches, given only to members who use violence on behalf of other Hells Angels.

Among the charges still facing Ottinger is a murder charge involving the stabbing death of a rival motorcycle gang member, Fernando Fernandez of the Mongols.

Ottinger was considered the "highest-value" target of a yearlong undercover investigation into the Hells Angels by the FBI Violent Crime Task Force that resulted in the indictment of 36 people.

According to court documents, the Hells Angels were determined to control the distribution and sale of meth, particularly in the Ocean Beach and Point Loma neighborhoods.

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Photo: Hells Angel logo. Credit: Fox-TV 5 San Diego

Inmates who ran ID theft ring from prison get 25 years

Two men associated with the Armenian Power gang were each sentenced to 25 years in federal prison Wednesday on charges of perpetrating a sophisticated identity theft ring from lockup, according to the United States attorney’s office.

Angus Brown, 36, whose nickname is “Homicide,” and Arman Sharopetrosian, 33, known as “Horse,” were two of the 20 defendants named in an indictment last year related to an identify theft scheme that looted at least $8 million, authorities said.

Under the scheme, which involved the Armenian Power gang working in concert with other street gangs, bank insiders were bribed to steal personal information from mostly elderly victims whose signatures were forged, with big checks deposited into phony accounts, authorities said.

Brown and Sharopetrosian had been convicted of running the identity theft ring from Avenal State Prison in the Central Valley.

Brown had already been serving time at the prison for identity theft, authorities said, while Sharopetrosian had been serving time for shooting at an occupied vehicle and carrying a concealed weapon.

Prosecutors said the fraud ring picked elderly victims because they were less likely to keep watch of their accounts by the Internet.

All 20 defendants were convicted and most are expected to be sentenced in the coming months, authorities said.

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--Christopher Goffard

Indictments link Mexican Mafia and street gangs

This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details.

Ventura County officials on Tuesday said a sweeping grand jury indictment had at least temporarily broken a link between rival street gangs and the Mexican Mafia prison group that was squeezing them for their drug profits.

Dist. Atty. Greg Totten said 27 people, including two juveniles, have been accused of conspiring to commit a variety of felonies, extortion, home invasion robberies and assault. All but two have been arrested.

The Mexican Mafia, a highly organized, prison-based gang, has been operating for decades and has frequently been known to extort money from street gangs. However, Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean said local law enforcement has never before seen the group forcing street gangs that are ordinarily deadly rivals into working together to commit violent crimes.

It's a worrisome trend because it can make local gangs more powerful, said Assistant Sheriff Gary Pentis. It also may reflect orders coming from drug cartels in Mexico as they attempt to extend their authority over California drug trafficking, he said.

In Ventura County, officials said the investigation known as "Operation Wicked Hand" started with a pair of shootings in Moorpark in April and a local heroin bust around the same time. Orders to local gangs were relayed through Martin "Evil" Madrigal, who is in prison on unrelated charges, and a local gang member named Edwin "Sporty" Mora, according to the indictment.

Sheriff's officials said deputies thwarted a number of crimes before they could proceed, including two planned killings and a drugstore robbery.

The 35-count indictment was returned Nov. 14. 

Authorities said another 16 arrests are expected. Bail for the 25 arrested so far ranges from $1 million to $5 million.

For the record, 3:58 p.m. Nov. 27: An earlier post identified the Ventura County sheriff as Geoff Carpenter. He is Geoff Dean.

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-- Steve Chawkins