VINELAND BOYS ABOUT TO FACE JUDGMENT DAYS NOW GETTING STARTED, TRIALS COULD BRING PRISON TERMS.Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW Staff Writer They had gone by boyish names like Sneaky, Big Barney, Little Joe and Yuck. But federal charges filed against 49 defendants linked to the notorious Vineland Boys street gang involve anything but kid stuff: Cop killing. Witness slaying. Racketeering Traditionally, obtaining or extorting money illegally or carrying on illegal business activities, usually by Organized Crime . A pattern of illegal activity carried out as part of an enterprise that is owned or controlled by those who are engaged in the illegal activity. . Conspiracy. A 78-count criminal felony indictment also includes numerous drug and firearms charges against the east San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. gang members. Opening statements are expected this week in the first of a series of trials likely to extend into next year. One law enforcement official called it the largest street-gang case in memory. ``A lot of these guys are looking at life in prison,'' said Thom Mrozak, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting the case. ``You take them out of circulation; they can't hide out in the street.'' The first trial is for a dozen members of the Vineland Boys who investigators say have terrorized parts of Burbank, Sun Valley, North Hollywood and Palmdale for years. To bust gang leaders, prosecutors employed RICO RICO n. . , the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act laws more commonly used to prosecute organized crime suspects. In addition to 55 counts of racketeering, the defendants are accused of murder, money laundering The process of taking the proceeds of criminal activity and making them appear legal. Laundering allows criminals to transform illegally obtained gain into seemingly legitimate funds. , conspiracy and witness intimidation Witness intimidation involves witnesses crucial to court proceedings being threatened in order to pressure or extort them not to testify. The refusal of key witnesses to testify commonly renders a case with inadequate physical evidence void in a court of law. and of dealing cocaine, crack, methamphetamine and marijuana. Prosecutors charge the gang with selling drugs to buyers as far away as Hawaii and Indiana. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the 159-page indictment, the gang paid ``taxes'' to the Mexican Mafia The "Mexican Mafia" (MM) or "La eMe" (eMe) is a Mexican-American criminal prison gang in the United States. History It was formed in the late 1950s by Chicano street gang members incarcerated at the Deuel Vocational Institution, a youthful offender facility located in in return for state prison protection. The opening trial, set in a high-security courtroom at the Roybal Federal Building, is expected to last three months. The gang was ``once considered the joke of the Valley,'' said Lt. Pete Durham, who is in charge of the Gang Impact Team at the LAPD's Foothill Division. ``We used to say they couldn't shoot straight. But we found out that they were pretty sophisticated -- buying cars in other people's names, buying homes with shadow owners, even running some legitimate businesses for money laundering. ``Who'd have thought you could get a RICO indictment against a street gang?'' In another trial of Vineland Boys, three could face the death penalty on charges of murdering a 16-year-old girl who testified against one of them in an earlier homicide case. Jose ``Peps'' Ledesma, Raul ``Clown'' Robledo and Javier ``Coco'' Covarrubius are charged with murder in the death of Martha Puebla, gunned down in 2003 in front of her Sun Valley home. A pretrial conference A meeting of the parties to an action and their attorneys held before the court prior to the commencement of actual courtroom proceedings. A pretrial conference is a meeting of the parties to a case conducted prior to trial. for David Garcia David Garcia (b. ? - died August 28, 2007) was a broadcast journalist for ABC News. Gracia had the distinction of becoming one of the first Hispanic news correspondents for a major American television network in the early 1970s. , a Vineland Boys member charged by the state with murdering rookie Burbank police Officer Matthew Pavelka, is scheduled to start Aug. 29. Garcia, who fled to Mexico after the slaying, was returned to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. to face charges of murder and attempted murder In the criminal law, attempted murder is committed when the defendant does an act that is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the crime of murder and, at the time of these acts, the person has a specific intention to kill. , as well as various weapons and drug charges. Pavelka, for whom a portion of the Golden State Freeway The Golden State Freeway is a north-south freeway running through Kern County and Los Angeles County, California. Originally built as U.S. Highway 99, it was re-signed as Interstate 5 in 1964. has been named, was killed in 2003 during a shootout Shootout Venture capital jargon. Refers to two or more venture capital firms fighting for the startup. that left another gangster dead and a Burbank officer partially paralyzed par·a·lyze tr.v. par·a·lyzed, par·a·lyz·ing, par·a·lyz·es 1. To affect with paralysis; cause to be paralytic. 2. To make unable to move or act: paralyzed by fear. . A Vineland Boys crackdown by 1,300 officers from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies A law enforcement agency (LEA) is a term used to describe any agency which enforces the law. This may be a local or state police, federal agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). followed. Many might have been mindful of the 1988 fatal shooting of Los Angeles police Officer James Beyea, who had been out of the Police Academy only three months when he was gunned down by a 17-year-old Vineland Boys member. But few likely knew that the 259 Vineland Boys members had morphed from a Valley football team of the 1980s. In a pre-dawn raid in June 2005, Operation Silent Night, an army of police arrested 36 of them, netting 39 guns and 12 pounds of drugs. ``Today is Armageddon for the Vineland Boys,'' Burbank Police Chief Tom Hoefel, who had supervised Pavelka, said then. Dozens more were arrested in subsequent raids. One early morning raid last December resulted in the arrest of six Vineland Boys, including one who had an SKS SKS Szkolny Klub Sportowy (Polish: School Sports Club) SKS Some Kind Soul SKS Samozariadnyia Karabina Simonova (Russian military carbine) SKS Vojens Lufthavn, Denmark - Jojens assault rifle with a makeshift laser sight that authorities believe was used in two local homicides. But while police attempted to avenge the death of a Burbank cop, it was a one-time Burbank mayor who would pay a price for her Vineland Boys connections. Three days before Christmas, former Councilwoman Stacey Murphy pleaded guilty to drug and child-endangerment charges after police found cocaine, guns and ammunition at her Burbank home. Murphy's longtime boyfriend, Scott Schaffer, pleaded guilty to drug and weapons charges after he traded guns for cocaine with Vineland Boys members. He told detectives that Murphy knew two of the men with whom he had traded guns were in the gang. Police say that the federal indictment of the Vineland Boys has hindered its leadership, but not broken a gang that still numbers in the hundreds. Vineland Boys crime decreased after the raid, but police say it's on the upswing as a young generation of gang members fights to regroup re·group v. re·grouped, re·group·ing, re·groups v.tr. To arrange in a new grouping. v.intr. 1. To come back together in a tactical formation, as after a dispersal in a retreat. and re- establish its turf. Police also report a new wave of witness intimidation by the gang. On March 15, police say that Vineland gang members executed a potential witness as he walked home from the North Hollywood police station. Miguel Delatorre had survived an earlier shooting and had just been interviewed by detectives. ``The sad part about it was that he couldn't identify the person who shot him,'' said North Hollywood Division Capt. William Sweet. Police say it's vital that law enforcement remain vigilant against the vicious Vineland Boys gang -- with more cops on the street and more follow-through by police and prosecutors. ``We've taken some ground; we need to hold it,'' Durham said. ``You never give up ground. In these days of limited resources, we can't afford to forget about these guys.'' dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3730 VINELAND BOYS ON TRIAL A high-security courtroom will be used as a dozen reputed members of the notorious Vineland Boys street gang are tried on federal racketeering charges. Here are the defendants, all of whom have pleaded not guilty: Rafael ``Sneaky'' Yepiz, 34, of Reseda Arnold ``Big Barney'' Sandoval, 31, of Sun Valley Manuel ``Pony'' Yepiz, 31, of Shadow Hills Mariano ``Durango'' Meza Jesus ``Yuck'' Contreras, 33, of Sun Valley Gilberto ``Beto'' Carrasco of Sun Valley Ruben ``Cameron'' Medina, 31, of Sun Valley Joe ``Little Joe'' Rangel, 42, of Pacoima Ernesto ``Gordo'' Mendez, 39, of Sylmar Francisco ``Noc'' Zambrano, 28, of Mission Hills Sergio ``Jaws'' Mejia, 39, of Bakersfield Jose ``Cheech'' Mejia, 36, of Bakersfield Attorneys for the defendants did not return calls. Hilda Rodriguez Yepiz, 35, of Reseda, will be tried separately on federal money laundering charges. CAPTION(S): box Box: VINELAND BOYS ON TRIAL (see text) |
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