Griselda Blanco, The Godmother

Griselda Blanco, aka the Black Widow. Griselda was the grande dame of the Miami cocaine business, a Colombian mother of three, of impoverished origins, who slaughtered and intimidated her way to the top of a billion-dollar industry.

Hector Portillo, a member of the international MS-13 street gang, and seven others were charged in New York City with multiple crimes

Hector Portillo, a member of the international MS-13 street gang, and seven others were charged in New York City with multiple crimes, including 29 counts of murder, attempted murder, assault, racketeering, and illegal use of firearms. The charges were announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Peter J. Smith, special agent in charge of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office of investigations in New York City; Richard A. Brown, Queens Country District Attorney, and Raymond W. Kelly, Commissioner, New York City Police Department.The indictment alleges that on December 24, 2006 three of the defendants, Hector Portillo, Javier Irheta and Luis Bonilla, murdered 15 year-old Pashad Gray in the Flushing section of Queens County.Beginning in 1998, the defendants served as members and associates of MS-13, also known as “La Mara Salvatrucha,” and engaged in a series of violent crimes in Jamaica and Flushing, New York, including conspiracy to murder and assault members of rival gangs, such as the Crips, the Bloods, and the Latin Kings. During one particularly violent 13 month period, the defendants allegedly assaulted or attempted to murder seven victims by stabbing and shooting.Portillo, who was previously charged with racketeering and murder conspiracy, is now charged with a pattern of violent attacks, including, in addition to the Pashad Gray murder, the non-fatal shooting of a teenager on February 17, 2006, and the stabbing and beating of two teenagers in August 2006.“The indictment of this dangerous MS-13 gang member is a positive step toward ridding our communities of the violent transnational street gangs that have instilled fear in our citizens and taken our communities hostage for far too long,” stated ICE Special Agent-in-Charge Smith. “Through Operation Community Shield, ICE and its law enforcement partners will continue to conduct aggressive enforcement actions against members and associates of violent street gangs like MS-13.”“The defendants have spread fear in our community through wanton violence, including shooting, stabbing, and beating their victims,” stated United States Attorney Campbell. “Today’s charges reflect our unwavering commitment to bring members and associates of violent street gangs to justice.” Mr. Campbell thanked the New York City Department of Probation for its assistance.Queens County District Attorney Brown stated, “Rivalries among criminal street gangs all too often turn neighborhoods into urban battlefields with innocent victims being caught in the crossfire. Only through the joint and committed efforts of law enforcement on all levels of government can we reduce gang-related violence and reclaim our streets for law-abiding residents.”NYPD Commissioner Kelly stated, “New York City has not experienced the explosion in gang violence experienced elsewhere, in part, because of continued, successful crime suppression and arrests by the NYPD with support from our federal partners.”If convicted, the defendants face maximum sentences of life imprisonment.The MS-13 is comprised primarily of immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, many of whom are in the United States illegally. With hundreds of members locally, it is the largest street gang on Long Island and has a major presence in Queens, New York. Over the past four years, the coordinated efforts of United States Attorney’s Office, ICE, the NYPD, and the Queens District Attorney’s Office have resulted in felony convictions of nearly two dozen New York City members of the MS-13.

Kyle Parvez shot a member of a rival gang from close range in the neck

Kyle Parvez shot a member of a rival gang from close range in the neck will serve a minimum of 10 years behind bars. And the judge who sentenced Kyle Parvez to an open ended jail sentence said his response to almost killing his victim Dilbag Singh was "chilling." Judge Stuart Baker told Parvez: "You seem to be unconcerned for your victim. "Your response to what you have done is in my view chilling, you are a dangerous offender." The judge told Parvez, convicted by a jury last month of attempting to murder Mr Singh in April and possessing a firearm with intent to commit the crime, that he was passing an indeterminate sentence for the protection of the public. He will only be released when assessed by the Parole Board as no longer a danger and will serve 10 years minus time spent on remand before becoming eligible. Parvaz, 21, of Arnhem Road, Callon, showed no emotion as he was led to the cells. He had denied both offences but was convicted by a jury following a trial at Preston Crown Court. Judge Baker warned that evidence from the trial suggested that at the time groups of young men involved in gangs from Deepdale and Fishwick were "prepared to use firearms to settle differences." And he said the courts would pass heavy deterrent sentences. Parvez had armed himself with a sawn-off shotgun which was a weapon used by criminals for one purpose - to kill or maim, said the judge. The jury had found he had intended to kill Dilbag Singh and he shot him at close range, from between nine and 12 feet away on St Paul's Road, Deepdale. Mr Singh, 26, was hit by 56 pellets in the neck and body but survived following emergency surgery. He gave evidence to the trial but it was revealed in court he had subsequently been arrested and has been interviewed on suspicion of attempting to pervert the course of justice. The trial heard that the shooting came in the wake of an earlier abduction of a man during growing tensions between groups from Deepdale and Fishwick with drug dealing backgrounds. Zainul James, 18, of no fixed abode, was cleared on the judge's direction of charges of attempted murder and possession of the firearm with intent but convicted on a charge of aggravated arson in relation to a car in which they travelled to the scene. He set it alight on Manor House Lane and the judge said innocent members of the public could have been injured by this reckless action. Judge Baker sentenced James to five years in a young offenders' institution.

Jeffrey "Dahmer" Gray,sentenced to 40 years in prison

Jeffrey "Dahmer" Gray, 30, was convicted by a jury following a six-day trial in May.
At trail and sentencing before District Judge Joseph J. Farnan Jr., Gray maintained his innocence.Assistant U.S. Attorney Ilana Eisenstein said Gray was a key cocaine distributor in the Wilmington area and was responsible for the sale of more than 50 kilograms of the drug in Delaware.She said trial testimony showed Gray lived a lavish lifestyle with luxury cars, high-stakes gambling and a pricey Rodney Square-area apartment with no legitimate source of income.According to attorneys, Gray was arrested following a fake drug sale set-up by an agent at the Airport Courtyard Marriott hotel in Pennsylvania on Oct.
30, 2006.Robert W. Shepherd III, a co-defendant, arrived to confirm he was making the buy of three kilos of cocaine but then said he had to leave to go get the money, according to Eisenstein.She said Shepherd then met Gray on South Street in Philadelphia and provided him with a wooden box filled with $60,000 in cash before driving him back to the hotel in a rented Scion.Gray then remained in the car while Shepherd went in to complete the sale, she said.When police moved in, after the fake sale was completed, Gray attempted to escape through the narrow parking lot, driving over landscaping, ramming his vehicle into a chain-link fence and leaping out of the car while it was still moving, to try to flee the scene on foot before being apprehended, according to prosecutors.When police searched the crashed car, they found a gun with a round in the chamber inside and DNA tests connected the gun to Gray and not the co-defendant, Eisenstein said.Gray’s attorney, Joseph A. Gabay, said his client denies being a part of a drug distribution conspiracy.He said Gray told the court that he had simply agreed to give Shepherd, a longtime friend, a ride to the hotel and had no idea a drug buy was going down. Gabay said the government’s case was largely circumstantial in that prosecutors did not tie him directly to the Shepherd’s drug operation, which shipped money to Texas and received drugs in return via Federal Express. “Mr. Gray wasn’t any part of that. He was never at a drop off,” Gabay said, adding only the words of Shepherd and another co-defendant tied him to the scheme.Gabay said Grey had a gun and fled from the scene because “he’d been shot at before” and didn’t know what was going on when he saw men with guns appear.Shepherd, who was the original focus of the government sting, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and testified against Gray.Prosecutors said Farnan cited Gray’s extensive criminal history and the large volume of drugs involved in ordering Gray to serve 35 years on the drug charges and five additional years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.U.S. Attorney Colm F. Connolly said the sentence "should send a message to those involved in the drug trade that they will face serious jail time when convicted in federal court."

Arrested reputed Mafia member Mose Esposito

Police in Naples, Italy, Monday arrested reputed Mafia member Mose Esposito and said they were closing in on his boss, Giuseppe Setola.Esposito, 29, was arrested at a small villa near Casal di Principe, the base of an alleged murder squad run by the Camorra clan, reported ANSA, the Italian news agency.Esposito's step-brother, now in prison, is suspected in the September slaying of six West Africa immigrants in the town of Castel Volturno, ANSA said Monday. The slayings allegedly were organized by Setola, whose murder squad has killed an estimated 20 people since May, police allege."We are working to flush him out. The circle is closing around him," said Franco Roberti, who heads an anti-Mafia program in Naples.Setola inadvertently was released from prison last Spring on house arrest but immediately went underground and reformed his alleged murder squad, Roberti said.

Infamous Shower Posse founder Vivian Blake is set to be released from prison in the United States and deported to Jamaica early next year.

Infamous Shower Posse founder Vivian Blake is set to be released from prison in the United States and deported to Jamaica early next year.Blake's pending release was announced on the BET programme, American Gangster, which aired on Thursday night.The programme looked at the rise and fall of the Shower Posse - a criminal organisation which has its roots in Tivoli Gardens and which established bases in several cities in the US, Canada and Britain.Blake was sentenced to 28 years in 2000 after he pleaded guilty to racketeering and criminal conspiracy. He never faced a jury after inking a plea bargain deal which resulted in the time he served while in Jamaica being used as part of his sentence.Blake spent five years fighting extradition to the US after the American Government accused him of ordering dozens of murders, drug trafficking and other serious crimes.The Shower Posse reigned terror on the streets of the US and its members are reported to have murdered over 1,400 persons in the United States.The group has been accused of funnelling huge amounts of cocaine into the United States and was said to use its profits to smuggle guns and ammunition back to Jamaica.Blake is quoted on the programme as saying "I ran it like a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. The only difference is that instead of litigating in a court of law, we held court in the streets."The gang was said to have major drug operations in New York, Miami, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Los Angeles, Alaska, Washington D C, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Montreal, Toronto and London.In October 1988, Blake managed to elude a nationwide dragnet which saw more than 100 posse members being held during Operation Dragnet, which was set up to nab members of the notorious gang.He left the shores of the United States on December 3, 1988 on a cruise ship and entered Jamaica at Ocho Rios in St Ann. He remained free for 10 years and was the owner of a car, motorcycle and jet ski rental company and a once popular night club in St Catherine.But while Blake was enjoying his freedom, some of his cronies who were slapped with long sentences, began to turn against him. Chief among them was Charles 'Little Nut' Miller, a native of St Kitts who said many of the murders were committed on Blake's orders.Miller was eventually sentenced to life without parole after slipping out of witness protection and leading a ruthless drug-running operation in his home country.Also turning on Blake was Shower Posse enforcer, Kirk Bruce, who admitted to committing more than 100 murders on US soil and is now serving a life sentence.

slain gangster Joe Krantz funds raised for the murdered Independent Soldier's memorial plot

Friends of slain gangster Joe Krantz now say they will not be getting any government money for his burial expenses.Nicole Cooper, who has opened a bank account to fundraise for the murdered Independent Soldier's memorial plot, said in a series of text messages that "social services" is not paying anything.She said only Krantz's friends and family members are chipping in to cover the costs of the stone, plot and engraving for the memorial at Valley View Memorial Garden in Surrey.Last week, Cooper posted to a Krantz Facebook tribute page that she was getting $1,050 from the government to help with the costs and that another $5,000 would be raised from Krantz supporters.Cooper did not return several phone calls earlier this week, but sent a brief text message to counter her earlier comments about the government contribution.Officials in the Ministry of Housing and Social Development refused to comment about any specific application for burial assistance when contacted by The Vancouver Sun.Officials did, however, say that applicants must supply detailed financial information about the dead person's assets, which are independently verified.Krantz was gunned down Oct. 20 at the World Extreme Fighting Club he had operated in Abbotsford for two years. The murder remains unsolved. At the time he owned a 2007 Cadillac Escalade, according to property records.Krantz was arrested last April and charged with nine gun and drug-trafficking charges after a one-month Abbotsford police investigation into an alleged dial-a-dope ring. Police found guns, drugs and cash in his apartment along with clothing bearing the logos of the Independent Soldiers gang, as well as the Hells Angels' Nomad chapter.The 28-year-old, who trained mixed martial arts fighters, was intensely popular, despite his criminal links. At least four online tribute sites were started.A tribute mural was painted at a Langley high school, though it was later taken down by school board officials.

Jurors convicted Vincent Artuso, his son John Vincent Artuso, and Gregory Orr on all the charges they faced in October.

Jurors convicted Vincent Artuso, his son John Vincent Artuso, and Gregory Orr on all the charges they faced in October. The panel convicted Philip E. Forgione on racketeering and fraud charges, but acquitted him of more than a dozen individual money laundering charges.The U.S. Attorney's office say the men conspired in the sale and leasing of 4 office buildings owned by ADT Security Services to defraud the company of at least $11 million over five years.
Prosecutors depicted Vincent Artuso as the leader of the South Florida crew of the Gambino crime family. The other men were depicted as associates but nonmembers.

"senior member" of the Black Mafia Family has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for cocaine conspiracy.

A man prosecutors call a "senior member" of the Black Mafia Family has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for cocaine conspiracy. Fleming Daniels of Roswell, Ga., also was fined $10,000 for participating in the violent drug gang, the focus of federal prosecution in Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Louisville, Ky., Orlando, Fla., and elsewhere. The 35-year-old Daniels is the first of 16 defendants indicted in Atlanta to go to trial. Eleven entered guilty pleas. Three others are in custody and one is a fugitive. Evidence showed that during 2003-2004, the gang moved hundreds of kilograms of cocaine into Atlanta, Detroit, and other points. Prosecutors say Daniels was responsible for distributing over 50 kilograms valued at more than $1 million.

Captain of the Gambino crime family’s South Florida operations, who prosecutors say has been linked to an infamous hit that led to John Gotti’s rise

Captain of the Gambino crime family’s South Florida operations, who prosecutors say has been linked to an infamous hit that led to John Gotti’s rise to power, was sentenced Tuesday to nine years in federal prison in a major real estate fraud case.
U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks imposed the sentence on Vincent Artuso, 64, following his conviction in October on 41 fraud and racketeering charges involving a lengthy scam against ADT Security Services Inc. The scheme involved several crooked real estate deals that cost ADT, which is part of Tyco International Ltd., at least $11 million and possibly much more, prosecutors said.“It was a large-scale, complex, multimillion-dollar scheme,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney William T. Shockley. “They were getting a big payday every year. It was like an annuity.”
Artuso was a “made member” of the Gambino family and directed a Palm Beach-based Mafia crew that included his own son, Shockley said. The prosecutor cited FBI affidavits and other evidence indicating that Artuso was present on Dec. 16, 1985 when former Gambino boss Paul Castellano was gunned down in front of a Manhattan steakhouse — allegedly on Gotti’s orders.Shockley said Artuso was never prosecuted for the killing but had used a known penchant for violence as a form of intimidation to keep subordinates in line.
“That’s just the way the mob works,” the prosecutor said. “He’s behind the scenes, calling the shots.”The dapper Gotti, known as the “Teflon Don” for his ability to avoid criminal convictions, was finally convicted in 1992 of racketeering and murder charges and died in prison a decade later.
At the Miami sentencing hearing, defense attorneys sought to minimize the Mafia references, arguing there was little direct testimony during a three-week trial linking Artuso and the others to the Gambinos. They claimed prosecutors used rumors and legends against the men.“This wasn’t an organized crime family as the government would have you believe,” said Allen Kaiser, attorney for co-defendant Philip Forgione, who was awaiting sentencing.The four men and a former ADT employee were convicted of defrauding the security company through real-estate deals in which the Gambino crew bought ADT office buildings far below market value, then leased them back to the company at inflated prices. ADT paid the men millions of dollars in excess lease payments over a five-year period, trial testimony showed.Prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of more than $20 million from the defendants, while defense attorneys say the amount should be about $9.5 million. Middlebrooks said he would decide the exact amount later.

Paolo Pesce has been on the run for 17 years and faces life imprisonment for murder.

Paolo Pesce has been on the run for 17 years and faces life imprisonment for murder.
The Guardia Civil have arrested an alleged member of the Camorra Naples mafia, Paolo Pesce, in an operation carried out by the Organised Crime Squad in Fuengirola.The 44 year old member of the ‘Mariano Clan’ has been on the run from the authorities for 17 years, and faces a life sentence for homicide. Reports indicate that he tried to pass himself off as Spanish.The arrest was made yesterday in a phone call shop under a European arrest warrant by a joint Civil Guard and Italian Carabinero team who were waiting for him to arrive there to contact his family.

Internationally acclaimed author and journalist Roberto Saviano has told hundreds of young Italians a war is being fought by the Mafia in southern Italy every day. Speaking at Rome Tre University in the Italian capital late Wednesday, Saviano, author of the top-selling book 'Gomorrah', also said many of the victims of organised crime in Italy were under the age of 35."We should remind ourselves that the criminal organisations such as the Camorra, the 'Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra, are the organisations that have killed the most people in Europe, much more than those caused by Islamic fundamentalism, which at present appears to be the daily obsession of the security of every country," Saviano said.Saviano, who was surrounded by five bodyguards during his visit, showed a packed hall of 700 students and faculty members shocking photographs of young victims who had been killed by the Mafia in the southern city of Naples. "This is a silent war, that the media rarely talks about. Most of the victims that you will see are not over 35 years old, they are all very young," he said.
The 28-year-old author, who lives in hiding under a 24-hour police escort, spoke to the students after the screening of the film 'Gomorra' based on his book and now nominated for an Academy Award. It was the first time he had ever been invited to address a university in Italy.The students were shocked and silent as he showed them more than 20 grisly colour photos of young men most of whom had been shot to death by the Mafia. "I will show you pictures that are terrible. They are about a war that is being fought everyday in southern Italy, a war that has killed 4,000 people in my territory since I was born," said Saviano. "This is in Naples, Italy, Europe."
The author also spoke about all the industries that the Mafia had infiltrated, such as garbage collection, textiles, restaurant business, petrol, discotheques and more recently, bakeries.Saviano's international best-seller 'Gomorra' exposed the activities of Naples' ruthless Camorra crime syndicate. The book has been translated into 42 languages. The journalist carried out his own research for the documentary-style book, which denounces the activities of the Camorra and reveals how and where it operates. The film 'Gomorra' won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie was recently named Italy's entry for next year's Oscars, reportedly further incensing the Camorra.Saviano appealed to students to choose different leaders regardless of their political affiliation to stop the spread of the Mafia. "Voters from the Left or the Right must once and for all, regardless of their political views, choose different people to represent them," he said. Saviano stressed Italy's southern regions of Calabria and Campania were the easiest places for the Mafia to operate and even though they had had Centre-Left governments for the past 10 years it made no difference to stopping their expansion.He also said that the Italian capital Rome, was one of the Mafia's favourite places to operate."Rome is one of the favourite places for the Mafia cartels to infiltrate and operate," said Saviano.

Salvatore Aracri is a hot name all over Italy in fact, with a strong connection to David "Dudi" Appel, the Israeli businessman

Salvatore Aracri is a hot name all over Italy in fact, with a strong connection to David "Dudi" Appel, the Israeli businessman who wanted to build Europaradiso, a huge tourist city in Crotone that was to be the largest tourism project in the world. About two weeks ago the Italian police raided Aracri's home and those of other Italians, including public officials, who were connected in some way to the project. It was part of a comprehensive campaign against Mafia organizations in the Crotone region. Police arrested 24 people on suspicion of belonging to the local Mafia and of engaging in activities such as blackmail, drug dealing and planning the murder of a prosecutor who dealt with the Mafia. Europaradiso appears prominently in the arrest and search warrants issued by the district department for Mafia affairs in the prosecutor's office in Catanzaro, the capital of Calabria. According to documents obtained by Haaretz and published here for the first time, the 'Ndrangheta viewed the project as "a tremendous source of profits, both direct and indirect."
Aracri is mentioned often in the documents as "Appel's representative in Crotone" on the one hand, and as a person working in coordination with the Mafia to promote Europaradiso, on the other. Appel himself is mentioned more than 10 times in the document as the "initiator of the plan," as one of the main shareholders in Madpit, the company that managed the project, and as the person who allegedly paid the former director general of the Crotone municipality 10,000 euros for "financial services." A document submitted to an Italian court enumerating the alleged crimes in connection to the affair contains passages from the transcriptions of wiretapped conversations between Aracri and Rami Avivi, one of the members of Appel's Israeli team on the project. In one, Aracri asks Avivi to pay money to municipal employees - the city engineer and the director-general - for their contribution to Europaradiso. The prosecutors, from the Catanzaro Province Anti-Mafia Department, suspect that the payments eventually transferred by Aracri to the two men were a bribe.
Appel has already said, in one of the interviews he gave to the local press, that it was Aracri who brought him to Crotone. Avivi, who went to Italy 48 times for Appel and is now a businessman, presents it in the same way. In an interview Avivi emphasizes that he served only as Appel's interpreter in the project. "Aracri was actually the man who brought Dudi Appel to Italy. Aracri participated in all the meetings held by Appel and his people with representatives of the administration and the region regarding the project." (In his response to this article, Appel describes Aracri as "an intermediary who sold [him] the site for the purpose of building the project" and nothing more.) An Italian member of Parliament from Crotone told the prosecutors, Salvatore Dolce and Pierpaolo Bruni, that Aracri once said to her, "Mr. Appel and I are the same person." According to reports in the local press, Aracri attended several meetings of Appel and his team with senior government officials in Crotone. He also reportedly took part in a meeting between the heads of the Calabria district and a number of Israelis including Appel, former Knesset speaker Avraham Burg, former Military Intelligence head Amos Malka and others. Burg was the chairman of the project directorate at the time, and Malka was introduced as his security adviser. The spokesman for the president of the Calabria district said at the time that the presence of senior Israeli figures such as Burg and Malka impressed the Italians. Burg and Malka, it should be mentioned, abandoned Europaradiso after the project began to run into difficulties. Aracri's role in Europaradiso is described as follows in the documents presented by the prosecution in connection to the current investigation: "Salvatore Aracri was investigated for the crime of handling and bringing to fruition the Europaradiso project in coordination with organized crime, and primarily in coordination with the gang that he now heads, and with the help of his brother Francesco Aracri, a man who is strongly planted in the crime circles related to the drug trade.... Aracri oversaw the acquisition of the plot on which this residential-tourism complex was supposed to be built, intervened in the political and administrative activity of the Crotone municipality and forced several city council members, and above all the chairman, to approve resolutions in support of Europaradiso; Aracri made criminal deals - among other ways by distributing money to government officials with the ability to exert a positive influence on the implementation of the project - at various levels, the municipality, the government and the European Union... In this connection Aracri attempted, directly or indirectly, to threaten Marilina Intrieri, an MP who publicly criticized the interest shown by the Mafia in the Europaradiso project; to implement the project, people close to organized crime ran as candidates in the local elections. As a result of this criticism the MP received threatening letters accompanied by bullet casings."

Suspect in Mafia Case Found Hanged in Prison

A suspect arrested in a series of high-profile raids on leading Mafia families was found hanged in Palermo’s Pagliarelli prison hours after his arrest, Italian officials said Wednesday. Officials said the man, Gaetano Lo Presti, 52, had hanged himself. The raids in Palermo on Tuesday were staged in an attempt to stop the city’s crime bosses from reorganizing after several years in which they appeared to lack leadership, according to the police. The operation was one of the largest against the Mafia in recent years and included the use of helicopters and dog teams. Dozens of handcuffed suspects were shown in televised news reports being escorted to prison. The police said some suspects remained at large. Prosecutors had accused Mr. Lo Presti of controlling the Mafia families in a Palermo neighborhood. The arrests were the culmination of a nine-month investigation by anti-Mafia prosecutors in Palermo. The charges included association with the Mafia, extortion and arms and drug trafficking.Tuesday's operation, codenamed "Perseus", saw some 90 arrests and was aimed at preventing Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian Mafia, from forming a new command structure after the arrest of Bernardo Provenzano, Riina's succssor as Godfather, in April 2006.On his arrest, Provenzano is said to have passed the leadership of Cosa Nostra to Salvatore Lo Piccolo, a Palermo Mafia boss. However Lo Piccolo was himself arrested in November 2007.Investigators believe this left the way clear for his rival, Matteo Messina Denaro, the ambitious and ruthless Mafia boss in Trapani, to launch a bid for supreme power by reforming the Mafia "board of directors," known as the Commission or the "Cupola" (Dome), which issues instructions to Mafia clans and acts as arbiter in often bloody turf wars.

Gang member Sean Mercer, 18, was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court of blasting three bullets across a pub car park in Croxteth, Liverpool,

Gang member Sean Mercer, 18, was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court of blasting three bullets across a pub car park in Croxteth, Liverpool, after targeting rivals who had strayed on to his turf.Innocent schoolboy Rhys was caught in the line of fire and shot in the neck.He died in his mother’s arms a short time later.
After almost four days of deliberations, the jury of seven women and five men convicted Mercer of murder unanimously.The verdict was reached yesterday but could not be reported until now.What the jurors did not know was that just two months before he shot Rhys, Mercer was involved in a chilling rehearsal of the killing.
Waving a gun, he rode a motorcycle past members of the public on rival gang territory.The incident was not reported to police at the time.The jurors were also unaware that just weeks after shooting Rhys, Mercer was given a three-year Asbo for terrorising security guards at a sports centre.Fellow gang members James Yates, 20, of Dodman Road, and Nathan Quinn, 18, of Wickett Close, both Croxteth, and Gary Kays, 26, of Mallard Close, and Melvin Coy, 25, of Abbeyfield Drive, both West Derby, Liverpool, and Boy M, 16, were convicted unanimously yesterday of assisting Mercer after they helped Mercer evade the police for months.Dean Kelly, 17, of Sword Walk, Croxteth, who was referred to as Boy K during the trial but can also now be named, was convicted today by a majority of four related charges.Trial judge Mr Justice Irwin lifted reporting restrictions on Kelly at the end of the trial.
The judge also lifted an order banning reporting the fact that Quinn is already serving five years for gun-related offences.When the main verdicts were delivered, only two people in the packed courtroom could not hold back their emotions – Rhys’s mother, Melanie Jones, and the killer’s father, burly Joseph McCormick, who was dressed entirely in black.As Mercer’s "guilty" verdict was announced to the silent courtroom, Mrs Jones, 42, who was sitting opposite her son’s killer, burst into tears and buried her head in her husband’s shoulder to stifle her sobs.
Rhys’s father Stephen, 45, choked back tears as Mercer blinked, looked down and visibly paled, repeatedly puffing his cheeks out.For the first time in the trial the teenage killer looked close to showing emotion as he stared towards the public gallery where his father sat, tears rolling down his cheeks.Mr McCormick mouthed "I love you" to his son – and left the court.But Quinn cracked a joke, inaudible behind the reinforced glass of the dock, and he and other defendants smiled and laughed.
As they were all led away, Mercer shook Quinn’s hand and the pair hugged before they were led down to the cells.During the seven-week trial, the jury heard that Mercer, of Good Shepherd Close, Croxteth, was a leading member of the Croxteth Crew gang, which terrorised the local community and was involved in a long-running and bloody feud with the Strand Gang, based on the neighbouring Norris Green estate.Mercer had an "intense hatred" of Strand Gang member Wayne Brady.When told by Coy and Kays that Brady, 19, and two rivals had been seen cycling near the Fir Tree Pub on Croxteth Crew territory, Mercer set about the murder.Dressed in a black hoodie and tracksuit, Mercer got hold of Yates’s Smith & Wesson .455 revolver and cycled to the pub where he took up position on a grass verge alongside the car park.Standing astride the bicycle with his arms outstretched in front of him, he clasped the gun with both hands and fired three shots at Brady’s friends, moving his arms in an arc to follow their movements on their bicycles.Rhys, distracted by the sound of the first bullet, which struck a shipping container in the car park, turned toward the gunman and was struck in the neck by the second bullet.Mercer then adjusted his position to aim one final shot at his two rivals.The third bullet struck a disused well as the gunman and his targets fled the scene.After the shooting, Mercer cycled to the home of McCormick, where he called on his fellow gang members to help him avoid the law.With Yates, Quinn and Kays, he was driven by Coy to a lock-up garage on an industrial estate where his clothes were burned and his body washed down with petrol.
Mercer gave the murder weapon to 17-year-old Boy X, who was frightened of him and who hid it in a dog kennel.It was later moved, along with a second gun and ammunition, by Kelly to the loft of his house where police found it later.A crucial breakthrough in the police investigation came 16 months later when Boy X, who cannot be named, accepted immunity from prosecution in exchange for giving evidence against the gang.Together with information gained from bugging devices in the homes of Yates and McCormick, much of which cannot be reported, and mobile phone logs, detectives were able to piece together the movements of the killer and his cohorts as they sought to evade justice.

Corpse of Welsh career criminal Courtney Davies, 53, was mutilated, set on fire and left at a popular dog walking spot in Staunton, Gloucestershire

killers of a notorious gangster stabbed 70 times in a "frenzied and sustained attack", burned and dumped in Gloucestershire woodlands have not been caught despite a four-year manhunt, an inquest has heard.
The corpse of Welsh career criminal Courtney Davies, 53, was mutilated, set on fire and left at a popular dog walking spot in Staunton, Gloucestershire, in December 2004.Despite a number of arrests and a collapsed trial, no-one from the criminal underworld has been convicted of the murder, leading a coroner to record an open verdict.Malcolm Martin, 33, who is deaf, was due to stand trial for killing Davies, of Rumney, Cardiff, and hiding his body in the Forest of Dean scrubland. But the case was dropped due to an "unrealistic prospect of success", the inquest in Gloucester heard.Mr Martin, from Cardiff, always denied murdering Davies and leaving the charred body beside the A4136 road leading towards Monmouth.David Scaysbrook, of the Forensic Science Service, found blood on leaves but no signs of a "battering type" injury. The body had probably been superficially burned where it lay, he told the Shire Hall, Gloucester.Dr Stephen Leadbeatter, Home Office pathologist, said: "There were approximately 70 such injuries. Twelve of those were to the right side of the head and neck, 12 were to the right side of the chest and groin and some 40 were to the back. The majority were stab wounds."Acting Detective Superintendent Neil Kelly of Gloucestershire Police told the hearing: "Mr Davies lived alone in Rumney, had previous convictions for offences of dishonesty, drugs, violence and firearms. He was well-known among the criminal fraternity in South Wales and had served long custodial sentences for two armed robberies and supplying Class A drugs.Recording the open verdict, Gloucestershire Coroner Alan Crickmore said: "I'm not able to determine who in fact inflicted the injuries that caused Mr Davies' death. This was clearly a frenzied and sustained attack resulting as it did in the 70 stab wounds discovered by Dr Leadbeatter."But although it was more likely than not that Davies was murdered by underworld criminals of sound mind, without a suspect to bring to court there was always the chance that his killer could be insane, enough to rule out a verdict of unlawful killing.

Darryn Molloy, 40, was arrested after police allegedly found 1.2 kilograms of cocaine in his car on Nicklin Way at Kawana

Darryn Molloy, 40, was arrested after police allegedly found 1.2 kilograms of cocaine in his car on Nicklin Way at Kawana last Tuesday night.He has been charged with trafficking and possessing cocaine. He has been remanded in custody until today when his lawyer will present a bail application.It is believed Molloy's sister will present an affidavit saying he can live with her if he is granted bail.She is also prepared to provide a $50,000 surety against her house as part of the bail application.

John E. Alite acknowledged his role as a top Gambino associate and admitted to conspiring to kill several men and trafficking cocaine

John E. Alite acknowledged his role as a top Gambino associate and admitted to conspiring to kill several men and trafficking cocaine, among other crimes.The suspected boss of the Gambino crime family's Tampa enterprise has pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and acknowledged participating in two murders and a slew of other criminal activities, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.The guilty plea was entered in January but kept sealed until Wednesday. Officials said the plea was unsealed this week because of a U.S. District Court order requiring the government to provide information about prospective witnesses at an upcoming trial in New York.
That trial involves Charles "Charlie Carnig" Carneglia, a suspected Gambino crime family soldier who allegedly committed five murders and is charged with racketeering conspiracy.Steve Cole, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa, declined to comment specifically on why the plea had been kept sealed for nearly a year. He said documents are sealed on a routine basis so the government can continue its investigation.Alite was arrested by Brazilian federal police in 2004 and extradited two years later.He is one of several suspected members of the Gambino enterprise to face criminal charges in Tampa. Federal prosecutors have said the group was trying to gain a foothold in the city, which has a history of mob activity dating back to the Prohibition era.Alite and five others were first indicted on conspiracy charges in 2004. Four of the men were convicted and another pleaded guilty shortly before going to trial.Earlier this year, federal prosecutors in Tampa filed charges against John A. "Junior" Gotti and five other men, accusing the son of the late Gambino crime family boss of conspiracy and linking him to three murders and large-scale cocaine trafficking.According to prosecutors, Alite admitted in January to participating in two of the same murders that Gotti has been implicated in: the 1988 killing of George Grosso and the 1991 murder of Bruce John Gotterup. Both men were killed in Queens, New York.In addition, Alite has now acknowledged participating in four other murder conspiracies; shooting at least eight men; and taking part in armed robberies of individuals, businesses and homes in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida.Alite's connection to Florida dates back to the early 1980s, when he was a student at the University of Tampa. According to court documents, he began associating with members of the Gambino crime family around 1984 and ran a valet business.As part of his plea, Alite also acknowledged trafficking cocaine and using the proceeds to invest in businesses in three states, including in Tampa, Fla.
Gotti's trial appears to be headed for New York. A federal judge ordered the case moved to New York last month, saying the government left the "unmistakable and disquieting impression" it had shopped for a trial location where it might finally win.Three trials against Gotti in Manhattan have ended in mistrials or hung juries.
Cole said he couldn't comment on whether Alite will testify at Gotti's trial.

Police raid Hells Angels clubhouse in Horry County.

Police raid of a Hells Angels hangout in Horry County.It happened Monday night on Highway 814, and is an ongoing investigation.Police are staying tight lipped about the incident. Officers won't say why they were there or what they were looking for.The captain of special operations did say they seized items from the house but he won't reveal what.Neighbors aren't sure what was going on either they just know they were startled by the commotion. "It was loud and a lot of commotion. Police was all up and down the road."A neighbor who didn't want to be identified thought she heard gunshots."It sounded like bombs going off. I thought they were shooting outwith the police," a neighbor said.The explosions turned out to be concussion grenades used to distract people as a SWAT team raided the house.Officers from Horry County police, Myrtle Beach police, Greenville County sheriff's office and State Law Enforcement Division helped execute the search warrant.They haven't revealed what they were looking for, but police did say they seized items."It was scary, stayed in the house pretty much, besides looking out the window, I was scared to look out the back door," a neighbor said. "It was scary to live that close by something like that. It was scary, scared my daughter," a neighbor said.We talked with other neighbors too they don't have a problem with the Hells Angels hangout they're just curious what was going on.As we reported Monday night police again stated this investigation is not drug related.The Greenville County sheriff's office wouldn't release much information either, but did say they've executed similar search warrants in their area

Terry Pink, 41, president of the Simcoe chapter, had pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine and possession of proceeds of a crime

Gerald (Skinny) Ward, 60, a founding member of the Niagara chapter, had pleaded guilty to trafficking cocaine and possession of proceeds of a crime. Terry Pink, 41, president of the Simcoe chapter, had pleaded guilty to similar charges but both denied that these illicit activities had anything to do with their motorcycle club.
Mr. Justice John McMahon of Ontario Superior Court ruled yesterday that the club is "a criminal organization which is dedicated to the facilitation and commission of serious criminal offences that materially benefit the members of the HAMC," and that Mr. Ward and Mr. Pink carried out their activities "not only for the benefit of the individuals involved but for the benefit of the HAMC, particularly the Oshawa and Niagara chapters."The two men were arrested along with 22 others after raids in September of 2006 on homes and clubhouses in Toronto, Oshawa, Windsor and Niagara Region. The arrests were the culmination of an 18-month undercover operation called Project Tandem.Prosecutor Tom Andreopoulos said he was pleased to see the charges culminate in convictions only a little more than two years after the arrests.Project Tandem was executed with the help of a police agent named Steven Gault, a member of the Oshawa chapter who was paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for his work and who is now in the witness-protection program.Mr. Gault testified that when he purchased a kilogram of cocaine from Mr. Ward he paid a premium of about $2,000 to pay down a debt owed by the Oshawa chapter to the Niagara chapter.The Hells Angels "have complete control of the coke dealing in the whole Niagara Region," Mr. Gault testified during the proceedings, according to the judge's decision.In his decision, Judge McMahon cited evidence that as of July, 2008, 75 per cent of Canada's HAMC members have been convicted of criminal offences, that a defence fund is maintained by members' monthly dues, and that members in prison are referred to as the Big House Crew.Sentencing arguments for Mr. Pink will be heard on Jan. 29, and for Mr. Ward on Jan. 27.

Brandon Thomas Mundell, Trial of a Hells Angel motorcycle club member

Brandon Thomas Mundell, 28, of the San Fernando Valley is on trial in Ventura County Superior Court, charged with assault with a deadly weapon, exhibiting a weapon, driving while intoxicated and driving with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent.
Trial of a Hells Angel motorcycle club member, the prosecution told jurors the defendant walked into a now-closed bar in Newbury Park spoiling for a fight with rival gang members and telling patrons he was going to "take over" the bar.
"He went over there with a chip on his shoulder looking for something to happen," said prosecutor Derek Malan.Mundell's lawyer, however, told jurors the prosecution wanted them to believe that his client used a 4-inch knife to take over an entire bar that could have been "potentially infested" with rival gang members and that he set out to do it with the help of two bikers who weren't even Hells Angels.
From 75 to 150 patrons were in the bar, noted the defense attorney, Dino Inumerable.
The jury received the case late Friday afternoon and was expected to return Monday.
Prosecutors allege Mundell committed a crime for the benefit of the Hells Angels, which a gang expert testified is a violent criminal organization.Malan said Mundell is a member of the Hells Angels' San Fernando Valley chapter, and he and two other bikers went to the Take Five Bar and got into a fight with patrons at 1:40 a.m. Jan. 19, 2006.The prosecutor said the trio went to the bar — allegedly frequented by members of a rival group, the Mongols — to challenge them to a brawl. The Mongols, who are said to have a chapter in Camarillo, were apparently not at the bar that night.Part of the incident was captured by a video surveillance camera inside the bar, and about 20 minutes of the videotape was shown to jurors as evidence.
Malan said Mundell wanted jurors to think he was the victim and the "entire bar" was against him."He plays victim," Malan told jurors, adding that Mundell invoked the name of the Hells Angels and became violent because he felt he was being disrespected.Malan said Mundell struck a bar patron with a pool stick. Malan also said a witness testified that Mundell chased him with a knife outside the bar.
Inumerable said his client is guilty of not driving safely and having a blood-alcohol level of more than 0.08 percent, but, he said, prosecution witnesses made statements that were inconsistent and contradictory.Inumerable said the video shows Mundell drinking, smoking, talking to women and having a "normal conversation" — not appearing agitated.The attorney also said the incident involved only Mundell, not the Hells Angels club. He said the club's members have legitimate activities, including motorcycle trips and barbecues, and the more than 3,000 members shouldn't all be lumped in as criminals.

Rebels and the Bandidos is being linked to as many as 13 shootings on Sydney streets

Rebels and the Bandidos is being linked to as many as 13 shootings on Sydney streets in just over two weeks.A new elite police unit, originally set up to investigate the night-time shooting of a gang member in Seven Hills last month, is widening its net to examine the outbreak of violence among the outlaw gangs.Codenamed Highcro and made up of gangs squad officers, the strikeforce will examine the series of shootings in western Sydney.On November 28, a 25-year-old was shot several times in the head and chest while a passenger in a car driving on the Prospect Highway. The car was hit by about 19 bullets fired from at least two high-powered rifles. He was taken to hospital in a critical condition.The Highcro detectives are using that incident as a springboard to look at 12 other shootings they believe may be linked to the warring bikie gangs, who have a history of enmity that often boils over into street warfare.A prominent Bandido was murdered in Melbourne in October and rumours of a planned "hit" marred the Friday extradition hearing in New Zealand of a Rebel member accused of a vicious bashing in Queensland last year.Only four days after the Seven Hills shooting, a Gypsy Joker was shot and knocked from his bike as he rode on the Great Western Highway before midnight.In the early hours of the same day, December 2, a tattoo parlour in Belmore and a Bass Hill house were fired at. No one was injured in either shooting. Since then there have been nine shootings across Sydney's west.The NSW violence comes on the back of a flare-up between the two gangs in Victoria. On October 22, a Bandidos enforcer, 51-year-old Ross Brand, was shot dead outside the gang's Geelong clubhouse.Two brothers, both members of the Rebels, have been charged with his murder.The continuing gang violence has also led to high security during an extradition hearing for New Zealander and Rebel member Peter Douglas Rauhina, 37.The first Sydney arrests in relation to the feud occurred on Wednesday night, when police pulled over four men in a Holden Commodore for a routine check and discovered two semi-automatic rifles, one loaded.Half an hour before the road stop, a house in Sadlier, believed to be linked to the Rebels, had been shot at. The four men, aged 21 to 46, are understood to be Bandidos associates.

Alberta Court of Appeal panel rejected a call by the prosecution to increase Hui (Philip) Xu's punishment to five years.

Alberta Court of Appeal panel rejected a call by the prosecution to increase Hui (Philip) Xu's punishment to five years. Crown lawyer Bob Sigurdson argued provincial court Judge John Bascom erred in not taking into account the cache of weapons police found in Xu's home when they busted him with the drugs. But the appeal court, in a unanimous decision handed down by Justice Rosemary Nation, said Bascom noted the weapons in his ruling. "The sentencing judge was alive to the presence of the weapons and there was no evidence the weapons formed any part in the commission of the offence," Nation said. Defence lawyer Hersh Wolch said the Ruger semi-automatic rifle, ammunition, Panther stun gun, Taser and Kevlar vest found in Xu's home were remnants of his former gang lifestyle -- he also said his client feared some of his former associates might not appreciate him going straight. "It is a fact that a close friend of the accused was murdered not long before this event," the lawyer said. "That friend was speaking to the police and counselling people not to get involved in the drug trade when he was killed." Xu said he was out of the drug life when he agreed to help a former associate complete a drug transaction. Police surveillance captured him picking up three boxes in southwest Calgary and taking them to his Coverton Heights N.E. home on June 15, 2005. Xu had arranged for the transportation of the drugs, worth up to $4.2 million on the street, and stored them in his garage before his arrest.

Gangster John Gizzi,activated the 2,712 extra days which Gizzi must serve on top of his original sentence for failing to abide by the confiscation

John Damon Gizzi failed to sell his luxury pad, meaning he could not meet a £2.6m confiscation order and automatically triggering an extension to his jail term.Gizzi, who lived a millionaire lifestyle, was jailed for five-and-a-half years in January 2007.He was also ordered to pay back £2.6m under the Proceeds of Crime Act. But yesterday – 11 days before he was due to be released – a court heard the house had not sold and he would remain behind bars. He still owed £2.2m including £132,000 interest, Llandudno Magistrates’ Court heard.He is currently in prison for grievous bodily harm.Originally Gizzi’s mansion, Bronwylfa Hall in St Asaph, Denbighshire, had been valued at £1.8m but the asking price had then been reduced to £1.3m and an offer of less than £900,000 made by a potential buyer.The country house lies in 4.7 acres in the Vale of Clwyd, near St Asap, Denbighshire. It boasts four reception rooms and a leisure complex with swimming pool, gymnasium and tennis courts.At the time the original confiscation order was made, police said it meant Gizzi would be penniless and homeless when released.The 37-year-old was a millionaire who portrayed himself as a legitimate builder and property tycoon.But at the time of his jailing last year, police said he was a bully preying on the weak who beat up homeless people and believed himself to be untouchable. John Gizzi was yesterday told he would stay behind bars for another seven years for failing to pay back £2.2m profit from his crimes.Gizzi was just 11 days away from being released from a five-and-a-half-year jail sentence imposed in January 2006 for mortgage fraud, conspiracy to supply counterfeit cigarettes, and wounding.But Gizzi, 37, still owes £2.2m, including £132,000 interest, acquired from his criminal activities and which he has been ordered to repay.A court at Llandudno heard yesterday that his £1.8m mansion, Bronwylfa Hall at Asaph, had still not sold and he could therefore not repay the money.Yesterday District Judge Andrew Shaw activated the 2,712 extra days which Gizzi must serve on top of his original sentence for failing to abide by the £2.6m confiscation order.He had been due to be released from prison on December 19.Gizzi’s solicitor Huw Edwards told Llandudno Magistrates Court: “He’s made every effort to ensure the assets subject to confiscation have been sold at the best possible price.”The price for Bronwylfa Hall had been reduced to £1.3m and an offer of less than £900,000 had been made.Estate agents had invited offers over £900,000 for the five-bedroom house which has a pool and gym. Mr Edwards said a sale was now imminent.Earlier hearings had been told Gizzi’s other assets included a Bentley Continental, Range Rover and Mercedes cars and four valuable personalised number plates – JDG 1 to 4.Kathleen Greenwood, prosecuting, told the court two occupied semi-detached houses and land in Gors Road, Towyn, which a Crown Court judge last month ruled had been a “tainted gift” to Gizzi’s parents, were worth at least £430,000.They had been ordered to hand over the development to receivers and their company, J and T Gizzi Builders, must also pay £154,000, the prisoner’s share in another building in Rhyl.At a previous hearing it was stressed there was no suggestion Gizzi’s parents were involved in criminality.
Miss Greenwood said the £154,000 had not been received by the receiver.J and T Gizzi Builders had made an offer for the Gors Road property.“I would be extremely surprised if the receiver accepted the lower offer that has been made,” said Miss Greenwood.Removing the current occupants of the semis would delay the realisation of the asset “considerably”.She added: “There have been over 20 months of default here. There are assets which may well be difficult to sell. You are asked to impose the default. Any reduction in the amount of the order will be reflected in a reduction of any term of imprisonment.”An application will be made in the Crown Court by Gizzi on December 17 to reduce the confiscation amount.A court in January 2006 was told Gizzi had built up a portfolio of 21 investment properties worth £2.8m in the Rhyl area but had lied about his income in each mortgage application.

Ruben Rosado, whom authorities call a ringleader of the band of robbers known as the "Route 35 Crew'' faces decades in prison

whom authorities call a ringleader of the band of robbers known as the "Route 35 Crew'' faces decades in prison following his guilty plea in federal court.Ruben Rosado, 31, admitted in U.S. District Court, Newark on Monday, Dec. 8 to committing 11 bank robberies in central New Jersey, a home invasion in Pennsylvania and the robberies of two Union County businesses during a 14-month spree, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Mack.But under a plea deal, Rosado technically pleaded guilty to only three counts of a 28-count indictment. Those charges are: conspiring to commit all of the robberies, committing the robbery of Investors Savings Bank in Piscataway on Nov. 10, 2007, and using a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.Mack said that under sentencing guidelines and terms of the plea deal, Rosado roughly faces between 29 and 34 years in prison. The judge scheduled to sentence him March 16 is not bound by those terms, Mack said.The maximum penalty he is exposed to is life in prison.Rosado faced a 307-year sentence if the case went to trial.
Rosado and another man terrorized banks with guns drawn, groping women along the way, and making off with more than $280,000 between August 2006 and November 2007, authoritiess said. The duo drew the name the "Route 35 Crew'' because the banks are located on or near the highway.Rosado also admitted to beating an elderly courier during the Nov. 27, 2006, robbery of CardSmart in Garwood, and pointing a gun at a baby and the child's mother during an August 2006 home invasion robbery in Allentown, Pa., Mack said..The other ringleader of the crew, Michael Green, 30, of Linden, who implicated Rosado, pleaded guilty to the same offenses in August and is awaiting sentencing.Both Rosado and Green remain in custody.Four other people who played minor roles in the spree are also awaiting sentencing.

lawsuit, filed against nine leaders of the 18th Street gang who are all serving prison time

City prosecutors say they have filed the state's first lawsuit seeking to seize homes, businesses and other assets from known gang members.
City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo says the case was filed Monday against nine leaders of the 18th Street gang to cripple their criminal enterprises. All the defendants are serving prison time.
Delgadillo says it's the largest gang in Los Angeles.
A state law passed earlier this year allows cities to sue for the financial damage gangs cause communities. Only gangs already targeted with restraining orders declaring their behavior a nuisance can be sued.Los Angeles prosecutors on Monday filed the state's first lawsuit seeking to seize homes, businesses and other assets from known members of the city's largest gang to cripple their criminal enterprises.
The lawsuit, filed against nine leaders of the 18th Street gang who are all serving prison time, is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. It aims to reduce the wealth accumulated by gang leaders through illegal activities.
"The days of allowing vicious gang criminals to accumulate and spend their ill-gotten gains — sometimes even from behind bars — are over. It's time the gang leaders literally pay for their crimes," City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo said.A state law passed earlier this year allows cities to sue for the financial damage gangs cause communities. Only gangs already targeted with restraining orders declaring their behavior a nuisance can be sued. Family members of gang members also can have items taken away if it's proven they are proceeds earned through criminal activity.
Damages gained from any lawsuits would be funneled back to the neighborhoods through programs and other measures.Frank Mateljan, a spokesman for the city attorney's office, said he didn't know if any of the jailed gang members named in the action had retained attorneys.

Gangs typically profit from money laundering, drug sales and extortion of street vendors. In the area just north of downtown Los Angeles dominated by the 18th Street gang, people can be "taxed," as extortion is known on the street, as much as 30 percent, said Bruce Riordan, the city attorney's director of anti-gang operations.

Authorities said as many as 35,000 people statewide claim to be members of the 18th Street gang."Los Angeles is making good use of this new tool to hold gang members accountable for their actions, and I hope other California cities will follow," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement.Police said there has been a 33 percent decline in gang membership in the past seven years.

Biker gangs and others carry out “grow-rips” in which they invade a house with a grow-op and steal the crop.

Biker gangs and others carry out “grow-rips” in which they invade a house with a grow-op and steal the crop. They are often armed and people have died in such instances, said Fanning.
"Its a very dangerous business.”

Vancouver, the largest city in British Columbia—a province known for its “B.C. bud”—has been a major center for grow-ops producing high-potency marijuana for decades. Organized criminals and outlaw motorcycle gangs often control the trade and use cross-border criminal networks to sell the pot for significantly higher prices in the United States.

Growing marijuana is a profitable business for many in Canada and lax criminal penalties do little to deter them.With criminal fines often under $2,000 and no jail time, many would-be growers see having an indoor marijuana grow operation using high powered lights as an easy way to make mega-money.But efforts by police to cooperate with other government agencies are making grow-ops look a lot less attractive, says Constable Tim Fanning with the Vancouver Police Department.
To raise the stakes, police now work in conjunction with municipal building inspectors, health inspectors and fire inspectors to enforce a whole range of laws.
"We work with all those agencies and crack down on growers,” Fanning said.While the fine for growing marijuana is often light, mold that flourishes in grow-op buildings can cost building owners tens of thousands of dollars to remove. Health agencies can deem a building uninhabitable until the problem is fixed, which often requires tearing out walls and carpeting.Building inspectors can also penalize owners for code violations related to electrical rigging used for lights and water pumps. In some cities, like Vancouver, they can order the building owner to renovate the building to meet current building codes.In a 60-year-old building, those renos can cost upwards of $60,000, said Fanning.For building owners who do not operate grow-ops, the prospect of spending huge sums to fix problems related to the practice gives incentive to check up on tenants to make sure they aren’t operating a “grow room.”“If you own a building, it is wise to inspect it,” said Frank Lamie, deputy fire chief for Toronto, Canada's largest city.Lamie said a routine inspection every three months will ensure a grow-op doesn’t get started.Toronto Fire Services won a landmark case this week that resulted in $30,000 worth of fines against a building owner operating a grow-op in the basement. The fines were for fire hazards related to the operation and the lack of enough smoke detectors.While the merits of criminalizing marijuana production are often hotly debated in Canada, few people support the criminal organizations that have taken control of much of the trade. In fact, the proliferation of these organizations has also become a major deterrent for would-be growers.This is particularly the case in Vancouver, which has seen a rash of gang- or organized crime-related killings in the past year.Fanning said some criminal groups will even rip off those that have agreed to grow for them and then inform them they now owe the group money.Even for people not associated with criminal groups, the danger is ever present.
"Believe me they (grow-ops) are hard to keep secret from other criminals."While there is a solid movement pushing for the decriminalization of marijuana in Canada, such efforts by police will make those involved in grow-ops increasingly uncomfortable.

Peter Limone, 74, of Medford, was charged with 12 counts of attempted extortion, loan-sharking and illegal gaming.

Peter Limone, 74, of Medford, was charged with 12 counts of attempted extortion, loan-sharking and illegal gaming. He’s accused of running a ring of bookmakers who took bets on sporting events and charging other bookmakers to work on his turf in the Boston area and Middlesex County.Limone spent more than three decades in prison for a 1965 gangland murder that he didn’t commit. He won part of a $101.7 million civil judgment last year after a federal judge found that Boston FBI agents withheld evidence they knew could prove that he and three other men weren’t involved in the killing.Attorney Juliane Balliro argued Limone should be released on bail, citing his wrongful conviction and decades behind bars.“No defendant in the Commonwealth is as deserving of the presumption of innocence as Mr. Limone,” Balliro said.
After spending the night in jail, Limone smiled and waved at his wife as he was arraigned on the new charges Friday. He stayed in a small room off the courtroom while the charges against him were read.“I’m feeling good,” he said as he left Middlesex Superior Court after posting $5,000 bail. He declined to comment on the charges, which carry sentences from two to 15 years and $35,000 in fines.
Three other men who also arrested in the gaming scheme pleaded innocent: Joseph DiPrizio, who allegedly ran the organization’s central booking office; Thomas Palladino, who allegedly handled payments and collections; and Anthony Squillante, who authorities said served as an intermediary between Palladino and Limone.
Limone charged tens of thousands of dollars in rent to four bookmakers who wanted to operate within Limone’s territory, and took in hundreds of thousands of dollars in gambling funds, prosecutors said.

Eugene “South Side Gene” Flores said he had to help shoot Jesse “Pelon” Guevara in August 2004 or he would have been killed himself.

member of the Mexican Mafia pleaded guilty to racketeering-conspiracy charges Friday and admitted killing a fellow gang member he said he didn’t even know. In a plea deal, he got 25 years in prison. Under questioning by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia, Eugene “South Side Gene” Flores said he had to help shoot Jesse “Pelon” Guevara in August 2004 or he would have been killed himself. Guevara’s body was dumped on Senior Road in rural southwestern Bexar County. “It was the position I was put in at the time,” Flores said, referring to orders from gang leaders.
Flores’ plea agreement says the leadership ordered Jesse “Low” Ozuna, Michael “VL” Badillo and Flores to carry out the killing because Guevara had disrespected the gang. Badillo has pleaded guilty for his role and is awaiting sentencing. Ozuna is awaiting trial in an FBI racketeering case that targeted 34 members of the prison-based gang.

Reputed Gambino crime family soldier Joseph Chirico won't serve a single day in prison: He was sentenced to six months' house arrest

Brooklyn restaurateur got a slap on the wrist for laundering Mafia money Friday - with a little help from friends like Borough President Marty Markowitz.Reputed Gambino crime family soldier Joseph Chirico won't serve a single day in prison: He was sentenced to six months' house arrest - and can spend 10 hours a day at his Marco Polo restaurant in Carroll Gardens - without even wearing an ankle bracelet.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Brownell said Chirico passed $1,500 in tribute money from a mob associate to another Gambino soldier. "Organized crime has been a curse, especially in counties like Brooklyn and Queens," Brownell argued. Federal Judge Jack Weinstein gave Chirico a tongue-lashing for swearing an oath to the Mafia - but let him off after Chirico's lawyer read glowing letters from Markowitz and former Brooklyn beep Howard Golden. Weinstein, who has sentenced scores of Gambinos in the past year, said he always slammed inducted members with more severe sentences.
He said he was swayed because of Chirico's character and defense lawyer Joseph Benfante's argument that jailing him would mean closing the restaurant and putting 25 people out of work. "Being connected with this gang has been useful in his business, he's looked up to, unfortunately, with respect," Weinstein said. A spokesman for Markowitz declined to comment on Chirico's mob ties. Chirico, who declined to speak at his sentencing, had faced six to 12 months in prison under federal guidelines. Meanwhile, Weinstein also sentenced the late Gambino boss John Gotti's brother Vincent and nephew Richard to 97 months in prison for conspiring to murder a Howard Beach bagel store owner suspected of having an affair with Vincent's wife

James "Whitey" Bulger, pulled out the victim's tongue and teeth and then tried to strangle the gun-runner, John McIntyre, with a ship's rope.

James "Whitey" Bulger, pulled out the victim's tongue and teeth and then tried to strangle the gun-runner, John McIntyre, with a ship's rope.The FBI man's complicity in this particular murder has never been proved but his betrayal of his badge – proved in two other cases – is one of the most shameful episodes in the agency's history. The macabre incident, worthy of a scene fromThe Sopranos, has nonetheless drawn attention to an extraordinary double standard in which the FBI allowed a notorious Irish-American gang to commit murder and mayhem in Boston for more than a decade, in return for information that would eventually break the back of the Mafia.
Connolly's career would eventually inspire Martin Scorsese's 2006 movie, The Departed, in which the loyalties of an undercover agent become hopelessly compromised. The movie, like his career, is set in south Boston where the federal law enforcement agency is waging war on Irish-American organised crime. Connolly's character is played by Matt Damon.The long arm of the law has finally caught up with Connolly, now aged 68. He was convicted last month of a 1982 murder and has been called to court for sentencing. A decision is likely within weeks. In dramatic courtroom scenes this week, he angrily shouted out his innocence. His many supporters maintain that the FBI is at fault for encouraging him to turn a blind eye to crimes throughout the 1980s.Nobody knows quite when Connolly decided on his betrayal but it is assumed to have been in the 1970s and bribes had a lot to do with it. As a decorated FBI man, Connolly certainly had access to the most classified information. He learned that the IRA gun runner John McIntyre intended to testify against his fellow gun runners. So, it is alleged, Connolly passed the information on to "Whitey" Bulger, the infamous head of Boston's Winter Hill Gang who was behind the IRA arms shipment.McIntyre and a friend were lured to a safe house where the gruesome torture began. At one point, Bulger asked his victim if he wanted a bullet to the head, to which McIntyre replied, "Yes, please". He was then shot multiple times and his body later dumped on waste ground.The gang has now scattered, Bulger himself is still on the run and is America's second most wanted fugitive (after Osama Bin Laden) but some of its members have escaped prosecution by giving evidence. They have also made small fortunes turning their exploits as mobsters into books and screenplays.But if Bulger and his deputy Stephen "the Rifleman" Flemmi were the feared enforcers on the streets of south Boston (Bulger was a "leg breaker, drug dealer, scumbag," in the words of Eddie Mackenzie, one of his ex-accomplices) Connolly acted as a big brother figure.

Back in the 1980s, Special Agent Connolly was a towering giant in the FBI's anti-Mafia unit. He had already spent two decades cultivating informants among New England's mob bosses. As a young undercover agent he walked the streets of New York with the FBI agent Joseph Pistone, who documented his own undercover life in the book Donnie Brasco later made into a film with Johnny Depp.

Pistone however, is not there for Connolly in his current hour of need. As the sentencing hearing of the former FBI hero got under way, Pistone refused to take the stand because the judge refused his request to testify anonymously.The US courts recently concluded that, in the name of catching ever-bigger Mafia fish, FBI agents were encouraged to let Irish-American gangsters rivals of the mafia, run amok. The policy led to serious breakthroughs against the Mafia but also countless murders and the ill-fated shipment of guns to the IRA. But former FBI agents have also testified on Connolly's behalf and there is even a sophisticated website proclaiming his innocence. When he showed up to be sentenced for his role in facilitating yet another gruesome murder by James "Whitey" Bulger this week, he wept tears for the family of the victim John Callahan. The bullet-ridden body of Callahan was found in the boot of a Cadillac parked at Miami International Airport in 1982. "It's heart-breaking to hear what happened to your father and your husband," Connolly told the family.

In an emotional prison interview with The Boston Globe this week, Connolly still proclaimed his innocence. "I never sold my badge. I never took anybody's money. I never caused anybody to be hurt, at least not knowingly, and I never would."

.As a member of the elite anti-Mafia squad for more than 20 years, Connolly's speciality was cultivating informants against New England's mobsters. His accomplishments led to the FBI's Boston office being lionised. Connolly himself became a near legendary figure for his role in a secretly recorded Mafia initiation ceremony complete with blood oaths and prayers and the incineration of an image of the Virgin Mary in the palms of newly made members. He was the first outsider to penetrate the Mob's holy of holies and his coup led to numerous prosecutions of leading members. But somewhere along the way he began taking shortcuts. With the full knowledge and approval of his FBI bosses he started offering protection to members of the Winter Hill Gang in return for leads.

The FBI adamantly denies turning a deliberate blind eye to years of bloody mayhem, murder and gunrunning and maintains that Connolly was merely a rogue agent. But, two months ago, a federal judge slapped the Bureau down and ordered it to pay £1.8m compensation to the 80-year old mother of the murdered John McIntyre.A damning verdict stated: "The (FBI's) attitude at least reflects a judgement that Connolly's at-the-edge conduct could be tolerated for the greater good of bringing down La Cosa Nostra."The FBI's successes against the Mafia were matched by its failures against Whitey Bulger's gang. When the Feds finally got around to arresting him in 1995, he was tipped off by a phone call from Connolly. Bulger now has a price of more than $1m on his head, his face on posters in every airport in America, but the likelihood seems that the 71-year-old is lying low in a west of Ireland village.
It now seems that Connolly actually became a member of Bulger's gang, a well-paid partner in crime, very early in their relationship in the late 1970s. He was full-time member of the Irish Goodfellas. It all started back in south Boston (or Southie) a landing pad for generations of working class Irish immigrants. It is a tightly knit place of hard working construction workers and armchair Irish republicans where at the height of Northern Ireland's troubles every bar seemed to have a collection box for IRA "prisoners of war."Connolly and Bulger grew up in the same block of public housing in the 1940s where the few career options included becoming a cop on the beat, a fireman or a mobster. In his 25-year reign as head of the Winter Hill Gang, Bulger committed as many as 90 murders. He had other high-powered connections, however. Billy Bulger, his younger brother was for years the head of the Massachusetts state Senate before becoming president of the University of Massachusetts from which he was recently forced to retire. Billy was also a childhood friend and a mentor to Connolly, creating a tangled knot of alliances that went all the way from the Massachusetts state house to the FBI and an untold number of back street torture and murder scenes to which Connolly routinely turned a blind eye.Connolly was well rewarded of course. "We're taking real good care of that guy," Bulger once said of Connolly. For protecting extortion rackets the agent was reportedly lavished with thousands of dollars and diamond rings in bribes.
When the FBI's internal affairs unit finally turned Connolly over after Bulger's disappearance, they found dozens of uncashed salary cheques and proof that he owned a fancy suburban house. There was also a holiday home among the jet setters of Cape Cod and a £30,000 fishing boat.Connolly is now facing up to33 years in jail for the 1982 Callahan murder. But his FBI career is one the agency would prefer was forgotten by the public. It promises to haunt the US law enforcement agency for many years, however, as more victims come forward seeking compensation for murders that took place while Connolly and other FBI agents deliberately looked the other way.