Smith & Wesson double action .44 magnum revolver with bullets in five of the six chambers.

Two teenage girls have been jailed for keeping a loaded gun for a gangster.One of them, who was 16 at the time, was handed the Smith & Wesson revolver on the doorstep of a home in Flixton during the evening of May 10 last year.It was given to her by Daniel Brown, a member of a south Manchester gang known as the 'Lostock Crew' or 'Lostock Mandem'.Moments later the girl – who cannot be named for legal reasons – stepped inside the house and told the occupants she was 'looking after some heat for Danny B'.
Who else has been locked up in March? Sentences and galleryThe gun was hidden inside a white sock inside her handbag, Manchester's Minshull Street crown court heard.The weapon had been handed over 'on the direction' of Chloe Goodman, 17 at the time but now 18, prosecutor Ian Metcalfe told the court.Both girls quickly became 'aware of the police' and the younger one threw her handbag from a rear upstairs window on to the top of a hedge.Minutes later, police stormed the house and arrested Goodman - although she continued to make and receive phone calls to the gangster who had handed over the weapon.
The younger girl was found hiding in the loft.Police later recovered the gun, a Smith & Wesson double action .44 magnum revolver with bullets in five of the six chambers.The court heard each girl had agreed to keep the gun in return for £150 each.The police investigation uncovered a series of text messages and phone calls between Brown and the girls.One text message from Brown to Goodman said: “Hiya Daniel. Make sure you shout us whenever you need a favour, whatever it is. Hold it safe yeah."Goodman even managed to make a further 18 phone calls after police stormed the area until the handset was seized from her.Analysis of her computer found a series of photos of her in poses 'which seemed to be a celebration of gun and gang culture', the court heard.Sentencing the younger of the girls, now 17, to a two-year detention and training order, Judge Timothy Mort told her: “The gun was in your possession only a short time.“Essentially it was being held so the people who are linked potentially to gangs could call for it when they needed it. It was also for one purpose and that is to kill or maim somebody."Sentencing Goodman to three years in a young offenders' institution, Judge Mort said: "Various images on your computer showed it was something that gave you a buzz.“Whenever you were asked to take his gun in you were not that reluctant to do it because it was seen as cool."Both girls had admitted possessing a firearm and possessing ammunition.Brown, 21, of Barton Road, Stretford, was jailed for five years after he admitted possessing a firearm, possessing ammunition and also conspiracy to commit blackmail.

His cousin, Michael Brown, 22, of Kingsway Park, Davyhulme, was jailed for 16 months after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit blackmail.

After the case Detective Chief Inspector Chris Packer said: "This case highlights the very real dangers young women face when they are persuaded by their boyfriends or male friends to store guns.

"These sorts of criminals convert young and impressionable girls, asking them to stash weapons and take the heat off them.

"In many cases they probably have little or no regard for these women but simply use them to hide weapons or drugs and try and stay under the police radar."

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Playboy Bloods street gang are implicated in the slaying of housing security guard Brian Wilcox, 29,

"I'm required to consider the defendant, but I'm also required to consider the protection of the community," said Jones in rejecting the plea of Demichael "Mikey P" Burks, 25, who had agreed to a six-and-a-half-year term after pleading guilty to violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, on Nov. 30
Burks and nine other members of the gang were arrested in 2008 following a federal investigation into the gang's alleged criminal enterprise at a public housing project at Doolittle and H streets, known as the Jets.In addition to fighting other gangs over the lucrative crack cocaine market, members of the Playboy Bloods are implicated in the slaying of housing security guard Brian Wilcox, 29, authorities said. Federal deputy prosecutor Nicholas Bass said there was no evidence any of the four who appeared in court Monday were involved in Wilcox's death.
"I grew up across the street from MLK (Martin Luther King Boulevard)," Jones said. "Clearly with a silver spoon in my mouth compared to the defendant, but Mr. Burks is a cancer on that area. He's a major participant (in the gang's crimes)."Jones also rejected the plea agreement of Delvin "D-Luv" Ward, 33, who had agreed to serve 10 years in federal prison on a RICO violation. Ward is considered an O.G., or original gangster, and authorities claim he is one of the leaders who provided cocaine to crack houses.Defense attorney Osvaldo Fumo said Ward is known as an O.G. simply because he lived long enough to earn the designation."I have to sleep at night," Jones said. "Maybe the government should have asked for a little more time."
Jones accepted the plea agreements for defendants Fred "June P" Nix, 33, and Sebastian "Rock" Wigg, 33, who pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy. Jones sentenced both men to five years in federal prison and five years probation upon their release.All four men have lengthy criminal records. Wigg was the only one of the four who was not in custody. Jones ordered him to surrender to federal authorities June 1.Ward and Burks are scheduled for trial June 8, but that could be delayed if the defendants waive their right to a speedy trial to give their attorneys more time to prepare.Trials for the remaining six gang members in the case are scheduled to take place later this year.

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massacre of 10 young people and children traveling in a pickup truck in Durango State.

Mexico reeled Monday from another bloody weekend of drug-related killings that was made even more horrible by the baffling massacre of 10 young people and children traveling in a pickup truck in Durango State. With 21 people killed across the nation on Sunday, the only break in the bleak news was the announcement that a reputed street-gang leader had been arrested in connection with the slayings of three people with ties to the United States Consulate in Ciudad Juárez on March 13. The young people slain in Durango were traveling from a farming community where they lived to the town of Los Naranjos to collect federal financial aid for students, prosecutors said in a statement. A man in military garb waved the pickup to a stop, the authorities said. Then he and an unknown number of other attackers riddled the truck with bullets and threw grenades at the occupants. The victims ranged in age from 8 to 21 — five girls and five boys from three families. Though the motive remained unknown, Federal Interior Secretary Fernando Gómez-Mont noted Monday that the Sinaloa drug gang had been waging a war in the region with the Zetas, former commandos and assassins who have splintered off from the Gulf cartel to form their own drug trafficking organization. Meanwhile, the authorities in Chihuahua State said they had arrested a reputed leader of the Barrio Azteca prison gang, Ricardo Valles de la Rosa, 45, in connection with the killing of a pregnant American consulate worker and her husband. The husband of another consular employee was also killed and his two young children were wounded. The arrest of Mr. Valles de la Rosa, who has a long criminal history in Texas and is wanted on drug dealing charges there, comes after the Federal Bureau of Investigation swept through El Paso on March 18, arresting more than 100 members of the street gang and interrogating them about the killings. Mr. Valles de la Rosa was stopped in a car at an undisclosed location by Mexican soldiers at 6 a.m. on Friday. He has been held since then on a weapons-possession charge. The pregnant consulate employee, Lesley A. Enriquez, and her husband, Arthur H. Redelfs, had just left a birthday party with their 7-month-old daughter when they were attacked on March 13. A few minutes later, Jorge Alberto Salcido, the husband of a Mexican employee at the consulate, was also killed after leaving the same party.

The Barrio Azteca gang has its roots in Texas Prisons, but has operated on both sides of the border since the late 1990s. Its members sometimes hire themselves out to the Juárez drug cartel for assassinations and other jobs

, law enforcement officials say. Mr. Valles de la Rosa, a native of Juárez, is wanted in El Paso on a drug dealing charge, the El Paso Sheriff’s office said. He is also a prime suspect in Mexico for the murder last year of Marco Zapata Reyes, who was member of the rival gang Los Mexicles, the newspaper El Universal reported.

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Hoovers is a "big, big gang," with different subsets, including 74 Hoovers and Eight Trey Hoovers. Vermont Avenue is a "loose border," as the 74 Hoovers and Eight Trey Hoovers

The 74 Hoovers identified with the color orange and sometimes wore orange Houston Astro attire. They also wore orange San Francisco Giants baseball caps because the gang equated the "S.F." embroidery with the number "Seventy Four." They did not always wear orange though. "[T]hey call themselves pretty much anybody's killer," so they feel they can wear any color, including red or blue to disrespect other gangs, "because they are Hoover Criminal." He described the Hoover graffiti that could be seen throughout the area.Officer Quiroz testified the Hoovers is a "big, big gang," with different subsets, including 74 Hoovers and Eight Trey Hoovers. Vermont Avenue is a "loose border," as the 74 Hoovers and Eight Trey Hoovers both "claim" the area, but "get along" and "share" the area. The "Eight Treys" and "Seven Fours" are "part of the same gang overall." "Eight Trey and Seven Four, they tend to go by Trey Four Love, which just shows their allegiance to both. Like [Kendrick] McGee, he has `Three Four' tattooed on his . . . arm showing the allegiance." "[R]egardless of the clique," they are "all Hoovers."[ 4 ]The primary activities of the 74 Hoovers are street robberies, bank robberies, narcotic sales, weapons violations, walkup shootings, drive-bys, assaults with deadly weapons and murders. Officer Quiroz investigated an assault with a firearm on November 11, 2005, in 74 Hoover territory, for which 74 Hoover Todd Gillium was convicted. He was also familiar with and had testified as an expert in a December 2004 murder case in which Travis George, an Eight Trey Hoover, was convicted. "A lot of the main focus for the 74 Hoovers is street robberies." A lot of the young guys do the street robberies, he said; most of the older, more experienced guys do the "bigger licks" (robberies), such as the takeover robbery of Jones's store.According to Officer Quiroz, many gang members never leave the gang. They may move on and have families, but still come around on their "Hood Day," which is their anniversary (July 4 because they are 74 Hoovers). Officer Quiroz knew Mitchell (and Macon) "quite well." He had known them for "a long time" and had many contacts with them between 2000 and 2006, including well over 40 contacts with Mitchell. He first met Mitchell, known in the gang as "Baby Scooby," when he was spray painting graffiti. He had admitted being a member of the 74 Hoovers and had gang tattoos, and Officer Quiroz saw him several times with other 74 Hoovers in the area. Almost every time Quiroz ran into Mitchell, he was wearing his "74 hat"—a San Francisco Giants baseball cap.Officer Quiroz knew Mitchell had become a carpenter and had been a member of the union for years. Mitchell was proud to have gotten a good job supporting his family and showed Officer Quiroz his check stubs at one point. Mitchell's mother and grandmother lived in the area where the robbery occurred and cared for his children while he worked. Although Officer Quiroz was unaware Mitchell had had a gang tattoo on his neck surgically removed, he noted Mitchell "still hangs out with the guys," and "still wear[s] his S.F. hat when he's in the area. Every time after work, he would show up."Officer Quiroz testified this robbery was not a crime of opportunity. He was "very familiar" with the location, including the store itself, as it is within the area he patrolled every day. He opined the robbery was committed for the benefit of the 74 Hoover gang. Three of the robbers were documented members of this gang. The robbery occurred within this gang's territory. The robbers wore no masks, with knowledge they could be recognized. Such brazenness benefitted the gang by creating an atmosphere of intimidation in the community. Typically, in robberies of this sort, Quiroz said, the money and clothing are divided among gang members. The clothing would be sold for money; the money would be used to buy drugs and guns. Officer Quiroz received formal training regarding gang culture both inside and outside the prison system and street gangs and had attended various training classes thereafter. He had been involved in hundreds of criminal gang investigations and executions of search warrants. He had testified as a gang expert at least 30 times, primarily regarding the 74 Hoover and Eight Trey Hoover gangs, and taught classes about gangs for other police officers. As part of the gang enforcement detail, he was assigned to monitor the 74 and Eight Trey Hoovers. He routinely spoke with gang members—during arrests, investigations and socially in order to build rapport.

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six-pointed star representing the Black Gangster Disciple Nation gang and a few tags for “Sur 13,” a Hispanic street gang with cells in Clarke, Hall and Gwinnett counties,

eight members of Blood Set 214 from Winder rode into an Auburn neighborhood and used bats and clubs to beat a group of residents on Murifield Way.Four gang members, including some leaders, were arrested afterward.A few isolated assaults have marked the latest rise in gang activity, but deputies mostly are seeing an uptick in petty crimes and gang tagging, especially on street and subdivision signs south of Georgia Highway 316.Officers are spotting the six-pointed star representing the Black Gangster Disciple Nation gang and a few tags for “Sur 13,” a Hispanic street gang with cells in Clarke, Hall and Gwinnett counties, according to police reports filed by sheriff’s deputies.Smith believes some of the gang members who are operating in Barrow County have connections with larger groups in surrounding counties.“We have some guys that have affiliation with guys in Gwinnett or in other counties,” he said. “But we can’t say they’re coming in from Gwinnett or Jackson or Athens-Clarke counties. They may live here in Barrow. They may frequently come over here to visit family, or they may have moved over here, and they’ve started to tag.”The task force will give detectives in the sheriff’s office a framework for sharing information and investigations with detectives in the Winder Police Department, and vice-versa, Smith said.The task force won’t cost either department more, because neither will be doing anything they wouldn’t already be doing, he said. The departments hopefully will pursue the same investigations in a more collaborative and effective way.Smith hopes if the task force is successful at pooling information gathered by the Winder Police Department, the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office and the three other municipal law enforcement agencies inside Barrow County, it will expand throughout the Piedmont Judicial Circuit to incorporate investigators in Banks and Jackson counties as well.

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Terrence "Squeaky" Richardson dealt drugs, randomly robbed people and killed his enemies as a leader of Pasadena Denver Lanes set of the Bloods gang

Terrence "Squeaky" Richardson dealt drugs, randomly robbed people and killed his enemies as a leader of a "violent and notorious gang in Baltimore City," prosecutors said Monday during opening statements in a federal racketeering and drug conspiracy trial.And after he went to prison, they said, he ordered others to take care of business, directing them over mobile phones that were illegally smuggled into his cell."This case is about gangs, drugs and violence," Assistant U.S. Attorney Kwame Manley said in a repeated refrain Monday.On trial are Richardson and co-defendant Gregory Saulsbury, who is accused of trafficking cocaine, crack and heroin to customers as a "high-end" dealer, which allowed him to drive luxury cars as he made money hand over fist.Their attorneys said the evidence would not support the allegations.Richardson is accused of belonging to the Pasadena Denver Lanes set of the Bloods gang, the same group that killed a Baltimore County witness in 2007 and wears its signature red bandannas on street corners throughout the city. He was indicted in May along with 33 other defendants, all of them accused of dealing drugs like Saulsbury, and 23 of them, including Richardson, charged with racketeering for the PDL. Richardson and Saulsbury are the first to go to trial in federal court. The rest are scheduled for court dates later in the year, and about a half-dozen of them have publicly pleaded guilty.It's likely some of those will turn against their so-called former Blood brothers, testifying for the prosecution. U.S. District Court Judge William D. Quarles listed about 10 of the indicted names as potential witnesses in court, and Manley promised to call gang members and their alleged victims, who will describe beatings with baseball bats and the murder of at least one man at Richardson's direction.Manley also plans to introduce video showing an armed robbery that Richardson participated in, as well as recordings of wiretapped phone calls.Richardson's attorney, Pat Woodward, said it was a stretch to call his client "the ringleader" of the robbery and suggested Richardson was all talk."My guy likes to talk and talk and talk," Woodward said. "At some point, you've got to ask yourself, 'What's real here?' "He added that Richardson does not live lavishly as Saulsbury allegedly did. "My man doesn't have anything," Woodward said.Saulsbury's attorney, Melissa Phinn, said her client "has nothing to do with any gang" and "nothing to do with any violence." The evidence shows that drugs were taken from his home, but it doesn't link him to Richardson or the PDL, she said.Saulsbury is not alleged to be a gang member, just a dealer, according to Manley.
"In the drug world, Mr. Saulsbury was at the height," the prosecutor said. "He had nice cars, lots of money" and "weight-level customers" who bought by the kilo.Richardson and Saulsbury were arrested as part of a 17-month joint investigation known as Operation Tourniquet, which culminated in mass arrests across Maryland - and two in California - last May at the state and federal levels.Much of the information that led to the arrests came from wiretaps secured by the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office. City police and several county departments also participated in the investigation and raids, along with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.There are dozens of street gangs in Baltimore with hundreds of members, half of them belonging to some set of the Bloods, according to data from the University of Maryland.The gang, with its signature red color, was founded in California in the 1970s and spread eastward as various sets, including PDL. There are several subsets of the PDL operating throughout Baltimore, according to the indictment: the "Devil Lanes" in East Baltimore and the "Low End Lanes" in the northeast, among them.The indictment chronicles a shadowy gang world with big egos, in which members use code words to describe illegal activity - police are "roscoes" and gang leaders are known as "Big Homey" - and nicknames to identify one another. Members allegedly dealt drugs, traded guns, ordered hits and paid dues to Bloods in California to keep up their good standing.

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Mexico's "King of Heroin," a powerful drug trafficker allegedly responsible for running hundreds of pounds of heroin into Southern California

arrested Mexico's "King of Heroin," a powerful drug trafficker allegedly responsible for running hundreds of pounds of heroin into Southern California each year, authorities said Thursday.Jose Antonio Medina, nicknamed "Don Pepe," was arrested in the western state of Michoacan on Wednesday and is being held for prosecution, said Ramon Pequeno, head of the anti-narcotics division of Mexico's federal police.
Medina, 36, ran a complex smuggling operation that hauled 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of heroin each month across the Mexican border in Tijuana for La Familia drug cartel, Pequeno said. The White House National Drug Threat Assessment says that while heroin use is stable or decreasing in the U.S., the source of the drug has shifted in recent years from Colombia - where production and purity are declining - to Mexico, where powerful drug cartels are gaining a foothold in the lucrative market.Border Patrol agents seized 4.8 million pounds of narcotics at border crossings last year, and heroin seizures saw the most significant increase during that time, with a 316 percent jump over 2008.Mexico and the U.S. are working together to counter a handful of increasingly violent drug cartels that supply most of the illicit drugs sold in the U.S. each year. The arrest came the day after top U.S. Cabinet officials, led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, visited Mexico to underscore their shared responsibility for the country's drug-related violence.Nearly 17,900 people have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an assault on cartels after taking office in December 2006.That violence continued Thursday in Ciudad Juarez, a border city of 1.3 million just south of El Paso, where police on Thursday found a decapitated man lying in a shopping center parking lot, his head inside a black plastic bag nearby.Killings such as this are believed to be the result of drug cartels fighting among themselves for control of the drug trade, a lucrative business estimated to bring $25 billion in cash into Mexico each year.Federal police in Mexico City said Thursday they had seized $1.7 million in small bills and arrested four men, two Colombians and two Mexicans, for allegedly running financial operations for cartels.

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Police served search warrants Wednesday at a Hells Angels club house

Police served search warrants Wednesday at a Hells Angels club house in the northeast valley. Metro spokesman Bill Cassell says the probe involved stolen firearms and vehicles missing from Salvation Army records. Cassell says the charity was "victimized" from people he says were in a position to "embezzle donated items." Officers were at the clubhouse on Bonanza Road and 15th Street, removing items believed to have been stolen from the Salvation Army, including vehicles, furniture and guns. Police say the non-profit agency does accept donations of weapons, but they are not sold through the charity's thrift stores. No arrests have been made, but the investigation continues.

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arrested tainted cop Ashish Shirodkar for his alleged drug mafia links.

Goa Police on Thursday arrested tainted cop Ashish Shirodkar for his alleged drug mafia links. Shirodkar who was suspended along with four other officers for having links with notorious Israeli drug peddler Atala, was arrested by the Crime Branch of the Goa Police.The Crime Branch had been investigating the case after a spy cam video surfaced on youtube.com, in which Atala claimed that he had paid Shirodkar a hefty sum to buy drugs seized by the anti-narcotic cell.In the video, Atala had also claimed that Shirodkar had been paid Rs one lakh to release an arrested peddler. Goa Police sources said they would now seek the custody of Shirodkar.
Earlier, Shirodkar had applied for anticipatory bail and the court is scheduled to take up the matter on Friday. In the first week of March, Goa Police had suspended four other cops, including a head constable and three other constables.The policemen were suspended over allegations of protecting another arrested drug peddler named 'Duddu'.

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GAY hitman stunned the underworld yesterday when he renounced his membership in La Cosa Nostra

GAY hitman stunned the underworld yesterday when he renounced his membership in La Cosa Nostra and revealed that he is gay.
Robert Mormando - a divorced father of two - said he is denouncing the Mafia and living as an openly gay man.
He clearly rejected the blood oath he made to the criminal organization when he appeared in court in New York charged with an attempted hit.
'That's the first time I've heard this in court,' Federal Judge Jack Weinstein said. 'I've asked many Mafia members and they've always refused.'
Defence lawyer Nancy Ennis said: 'He has been openly gay since he left the mob.'
He is now living a 'peaceful working life' with his partner who, despite his controversial stand, has refused to enter a witness protection programme, Ms Ennis said.
Members of the Mafia do not accept a gay lifestyle within its ranks although there is no specific rule that inductees must accept.
Former DeCavalcante crime boss John D'Amato was murdered in 1992 for being gay.
Mormando, 44, was being sentenced for the shooting of Queens bagel store owner Angelo Mugnolo, who was wounded in the driveway of his home in 2003.
The killing was allegedly ordered by Vincent Gotti, the younger brother of late crime boss John Gotti, who suspected the baker was fooling around with his wife.

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Eighteen alleged gang members in Milwaukee are facing federal charges for drug trafficking and violence over a 12-year period.

Eighteen alleged gang members in Milwaukee are facing federal charges for drug trafficking and violence over a 12-year period.The indictment announced Tuesday alleges that the men – ages to 23 to 35 – conspired to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana from about 1996 to at least October of last year.Three are also accused of brandishing a firearm to further a conspiracy, two are also accused of discharging a firearm to further a conspiracy and another is also charged with distribution of cocaine and cocaine base.

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Emmanuel Limpangog, 18, was on his way to attend the wake of his fellow Bloods Gang member who was killed

Emmanuel Limpangog, 18, was on his way to attend the wake of his fellow Bloods Gang member who was killed Tuesday, when he was waylaid and shot by two members of the Crips Gang in barangay Tejero early morning yesterday.member of a street gang was seriously wounded when he was shot on the head by two members of a rival gang.
As of yesterday noon, Limpangong was still in critical condition.He was supposed to the attend the wake for Kenneth Veloso who was shot by an unidentified suspect from the rival gang using an Ingram. Aside from Veloso, a 14-year-old girl was also killed. A third victim, who was still in thehospital, was identified as Jeffrey Villomo, 18, also a gang member.Limpangong was at an Internet cafe near Veloso's wake when two men arrived and shot him. He was brought to the Cebu City Medical Center for treatment and was later transferred to a private hospital.But his neighbors said Limpangog was not a gang member. He was a cousin of the slain Bloods Gang member VelosoA female resident, who asked not d to be named for security reasons, told radio dyAB that Limpangog was a cousin of Veloso. He only came to the wake to pay respects to his cousin.Residents said that when a Crips gunman fired at Limpangog, there was also a three-year-old child in the area. Luckily, the child was unharmed.Homicide section operatives yesterday afternoon picked up Aldos Arigadas, 18, of Urgelio Street, barangay Sambag Uno after he was implicated in the killing of Veloso and the minor girl.Arigadas, however, denied he was the gunman and pointed to one Jordan, a fellow Crips member, as the one who shot the victims. He said Jordan and Joseph Yu had planned the shooting.Chief Insp. George Ylanan, chief Criminal Investigation and Detective Management Branch (CIDMB) said they invited witnesses to identify him.
The worsening gang violence in barangay Tejero, where the recent killings happened, has prompted residents to call on barangay officials to address the gang war.
Residents of Tejero, where the wake for the two Bloods Gang members is being held, now fear for their security and are afraid they would be caught in the cross fire.

Yesterday, gang members transferred the wake of Veloso and the girl to another area for fear the Crips gang would strike again. A resident said Crips members had vowed to kill three more Bloods Gang members.
The resident expressed dismay on the inaction of barangay officials in addressing the street wars in their area. The resident said Jesselou Cadungog should speak with barangay Carreta captain Eduardo Lauron to discuss the concerns of the warring gangs from their two neighboring barangays.Bloods Gang members are from Tejero while Crips members are from Carreta.
“Kada gabii, nag sige gyud mi ug roving aning mga lugar nga dunay identified nga sakop sa gang. Ang amo. Tungod kay minor man gud ni sila kadaghanan, igo ra gyud mi sa pagbadlung kay maglisud man mi ug dakop tungod sa Juvenile Justice law,” said Cadungog. He added that “nagbawus-bawus nalang na sila.”As this developed, the three suspects in the killing a 14-year-old altar boy last Sunday were formally charged yesterday before the Regional Trial Court (RTC).Joypher Tatoy, 22; Marvin Abella Sanchez, 25; and Gary (not his real name) a minor will be tried for robbery with homicide charges, a non-bailable offense.RTC Judge Soliver Peras of branch 10 yesterday signed the commitment order of the three suspects who were brought to the Cebu City Jail yesterday afternoon.Sanchez and another companion Jason Villarama, 18, were also charged with attempted murder and frustrated murder for trying to kill a jeepney driver and a conductor last Saturday. A bail of P64,000 was recommended for Villarama's temporary liberty.

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Cracking down on the worst of the worst will reduce gang numbers

Cracking down on the worst of the worst will reduce gang numbers, he said.
"If we identify suppressing gang violence as [the department's] No. 1 priority in 2010, we have to have a way to measure it."
The concept of the list conjured up the image of 'wanted' type posters being plastered up around the Lower Mainland in the minds of the press, said MacDonald, who was asked to pose with a copy of the list and fielded such strange questions as: "Are [Top 10 gangsters] ugly? It would be better [TV] if they were ugly."
"[It's] generated a lot of interest, and yes, people in the media are likening it to a John Dillinger or Al Capone sort of 'FBI most wanted' poster or something from the wild west where they would imagine, I guess, us getting a posse together and going after these individuals," he said.
But, MacDonald conceded in the end, part of that notion is not too far from the truth.
"I guarantee that, internally, we will have complete profiles of the people in our Top 10 list and the mandate of not only our gang suppression unit, but other specialty squads in our department . . . to posse up and go arrest people we can bring to charges."
MacDonald said however the department decides to present the list, public response has been overwhelmingly positive. Most people are tired of gangsters publicly flaunting their status as criminals.
"We're going to start picking them off and arresting them until we achieve our goal of making Abbotsford a much safer place when it comes to gang violence and even gang presence," he said.
The public overwhelmingly wants wherever they call home to be safe, said MacDonald, and added the list could help with that.
"[Police] are going to start at the top of the food chain and arrest as many of those people as we possibly can."

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alleged Tre-Tre Crips gang member — took exception

group of Denver Broncos players arrived at the Safari nightclub to celebrate New Year's Eve and was whisked inside by bouncers. One of the dozens of people waiting in line to get in — an alleged Tre-Tre Crips gang member — took exception.
"We street," Willie Clark told wide receiver Brandon Marshall, according to court testimony. "We got money too."
That encounter between celebrated professional athletes and an alleged angry gang member ultimately led to the Jan. 1, 2007, shooting death of cornerback Darrent Williams, a jury decided Thursday, convicting Clark of first degree murder.
"It was a chance meeting and it was a ridiculous altercation that led to this tragic result," said Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.
Clark, 26, faces life in prison at his April 30 sentencing.
It took prosecutors and police nearly two years to build their case against Clark, partly because those who witnessed the shooting were part of a gang drug ring that was under federal investigation, Morrissey said. A code of silence kept those witnesses from talking.
Federal drug cases pending against the gang's members helped crack the case. Several witnesses testified they saw or heard from Clark that he fired shots from an SUV truck into a stretch Hummer limousine carrying Williams and 16 others from the nightclub at 2 a.m. Williams died in teammate Javon Walker's arms.
"It was this man, who indiscriminately, with universal maliciousness ... took it upon himself to unload his .40-caliber handgun into that limousine full of innocent people," Chief Deputy District Attorney Timothy Twining said in his closing argument.
Inside the nightclub, Clark continued to confront the athletes, prosecutors said. During testimony, Marshall described Clark as "off the hook" after a member of the Broncos' entourage sprayed champagne on New Year's revelers.
Prosecutors portrayed Williams as a peacemaker as his friends argued with gang members.
Marshall, who was at the nightclub but not in Williams' limo, grew emotional on the stand as he described teammates with bloodstained clothes at a hospital afterward. He said Walker clutched a bloody necklace Williams was wearing and wouldn't let it go.
Some gang members testified against Clark in exchange for lighter sentences on unrelated crimes. Two witnesses refused to testify against Clark, saying their families would be hurt if they spoke out against a gang member. A third witness spent a night in jail before changing his mind and agreeing to tell jurors Clark confessed to the shooting.
Security was tight throughout the 11-day trial. Thirteen armed deputies stood in the courtroom as the verdict was read. Deputies also were stationed along a hallway outside the courtroom.
Clark declined to testify in his defense, citing threats to himself and his family. Defense attorney Darren Cantor said gang members had threatened to turn Clark into "Swiss cheese" if he said anything in court.
Another defense attorney, Abraham Hutt, maintained that Clark wasn't even in the SUV when the shooting happened.
"This is what this is about: Willie Clark is a scapegoat," Hutt told jurors.

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Desmond Sims of the 3800 block of Boarman Ave. has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the Dec. 29 killing Jeffery Ward

Desmond Sims of the 3800 block of Boarman Ave. has been charged as an adult with first-degree murder in the Dec. 29 killing of 19-year-old Jeffery Ward Jr. in the 3800 block of Oakford Ave.Sims is the youngest person charged with murder this year in the city.Police said they located a witness to the shooting who identified Sims, also known as "Dazy," as the shooter. According to police, the investigation revealed that Sims repeatedly shot Ward with a .45-caliber handgun, in a gang-initiation slaying.Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said detectives believe Sims was being initiated into a set of the Bloods gang.Sims' mother, Patricia Rhodes, said her son was being "railroaded," saying he had never been involved with violence and to her knowledge was not in a gang.She acknowledged, however, that she was concerned about his behavior after he dropped out of school last year and was caught with drugs. Rhodes said she had not run into such problems with her other four children and was struggling to get Sims on the right track."People need to realize, these gang influences, if that's actually what happened, could happen to anybody's child," Rhodes said. "It's just devastating."The killing comes as prosecutors from across the state are in Annapolis arguing for tougher anti-gang laws. Last week, legislators heard from prosecutors and police who said they want to define who is a gang member and broaden the number of crimes that can trigger longer prison sentences.Critics, including the House Judiciary Committee chairman, Del. Joseph F. Vallario Jr., and the American Civil Liberties Union, questioned the need for enhanced penalties and said the proposals were misguided.It was not clear whether Ward may have been a rival gang member or was targeted at random, but Ward's mother said there is "more to the story." She would not elaborate.
"I'm grateful they got [the alleged gunman], but they need to get the person who told him to do it," said the mother, who asked not to be identified.Ward was a senior at Harbor City High School in West Baltimore who liked to box and ride dirt bikes, his mother said. According to court records, he had two drug-related arrestsand was acquitted in both cases.He also had a son who was 2 months old at the time of Ward's death.
"He was a loving father to his son," his mother said.
Charging documents say that detectives questioned Sims in the presence of his parents, and he denied any involvement in the killing. He also denied that his nickname was "Dazy," though his mother confirmed that as his nickname.
Rhodes said no such exchange with detectives occurred. She said Sims was questioned by detectives two weeks ago while she waited in another room. Then Wednesday, detectives picked him up and made the rest of the family stay in the main room of the house for several hours while they waited to obtain search warrants.She said police did not take anything from the home.Rhodes said she has spoken with her son from Central Booking and that he continues to deny any involvement in the killing.
She thinks he will be cleared, and that this experience might benefit him in the long run.
"I told him, 'Maybe this will be the thing that will turn you around and let you know that you need to go back to school and get on the right track,' " she said.
Ward was found about 9:15 p.m., lying on his stomach and suffering from gunshot wounds to the head. He was taken to Sinai Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.Police recovered seven .45-caliber shell casings, among other items, at the scene.
His mother said family members grew worried when Ward did not come home that night, and they checked local hospitals to see if he had been admitted.

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