judge guaranteed the founder of the Asian Boyz gang will spend the rest of his life in prison, slamming him Wednesday with eight consecutive life sentences

judge guaranteed the founder of the Asian Boyz gang will spend the rest of his life in prison, slamming him Wednesday with eight consecutive life sentences for a mid-1990s crime spree that included eight murders in a quest to make his gang the most feared in Los Angeles.

Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry called 37-year-old Marvin Mercado a clear danger to society and said only two of his victims were rival gang members while the rest were law-abiding citizens.
"He deserves the greatest sentence this court can impose," Perry said. "The amount of pain and senseless hurt this defendant and his associates have caused is enormous and incalculable."

The bespectacled Mercado, who did not address the court, was stone-faced as Perry sentenced him to the life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murders.

He also was given 10 consecutive 15-year-to-life sentences for 10 attempted murders, and 50 years on weapons and other charges, also to be served consecutively.

A jury had rejected the death penalty earlier this month, opting to impose life without parole after convicting Mercado of the charges. Defense attorney Donald J. Calabria said he would appeal.