Several Jamaicans are said to be among 300 suspected members of street gangs arrested in Florida in the US.

Several Jamaicans are said to be among 300 suspected members of street gangs arrested in Florida in the US.Federal immigration agents Thursday announced that they had arrested 321 persons many of whom are immigrants.According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, those arrested operated from Lake Worth to Miami and were associated with various gangs.Some of those arrested are from the United States, but most are from Jamaica and other countries including Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Colombia and Chile.
The sweep included one man who was deported for criminal activity, but returned to the US.Federal agents did not release the names of those arrested, but said they are being held in various jails or out on bail.The suspects are charged with various racketeering, gun, drug and parole violations.

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John A. "Junior" Gotti was hit with new federal charges Tuesday

John A. "Junior" Gotti was hit with new federal charges Tuesday involving three gangland slayings -- including one ordered by his infamous father
"What should be noted today is whether you violate the federal law today, tomorrow, or 20 years ago, the FBI and its law enforcement partners will pursue the matter to its logical conclusions," said Steven E. Ibison, special agent-in-charge of the Tampa, Fla., FBI office.

charges marked the latest in a string of attempts in recent years by the government to put away Gotti, who prosecutors say followed in the footsteps of his mob boss father in leading the Gambino crime family. And just like his "Teflon Don" father, the younger Gotti has proved to be highly skilled at evading convictions on a variety of mob indictments brought against him.Gotti's attorney denied the charges and accused the government of holding a grudge against him for beating previous prosecutions. Over the years, a parade of mob turncoats who testified against the Gambinos "never accused John Gotti of drugs or murder — never happened," said Charles Carnesi."What you have is a bunch of people in law enforcement who are disgruntled about the fact that he did fight those cases successfully," the lawyer said. "That's what this case is about."
The latest case was brought in Florida after a series of failed prosecutions in New York City. Another indictment accused five Gotti associates of various crimes, including murder.The conspiracy indictment against the 44-year-old Gotti accuses him of being a chief in an arm of the Gambino crime family that operated in Florida, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania since about 1983. The enterprise was involved in everything from murder and kidnapping to witness tampering, money laundering and cocaine trafficking, and had its fingers in legal and illegal businesses and union locals, federal authorities said.Federal prosecutor Robert O'Neill said the indictments showed that the defendants were "trying to gain a foothold" in Florida, and they alleged that some of the crimes took place there.Prosecutors alleged that Gotti "oversaw" the slaying of reputed Gambino associate Louis DiBono in the parking garage of the World Trade Center in Manhattan in 1990. The elder Gotti was convicted of ordering that slaying, which was related to DiBono's contract to install fireproofing at the trade center. Prosecutors did not provide specifics about the younger Gotti's involvement in the hit.The late mob boss had been caught on tape boasting, "Know why he's dying? He's gonna die because he refused to come in when I called. He didn't do nothing else wrong," prosecutors said.Prosecutors also accused Gotti of having two men killed in drug turf disputes: George Grosso in 1988 and Bruce John Gotterup in 1991, both in Queens. The indictment also alleges he possessed and trafficked more than 5 kilograms of cocaine.Gotti "has led a life of violence, including these three murders," prosecutor Elie Honig said while successfully arguing against bail in federal court in Manhattan."He's never been charged with murder before," Honig said. "Now he's been charged with three."
A magistrate ordered Gotti held without bail until agents transport him to Florida. It was unclear how soon he would depart.Gotti, wearing a navy blue polo shirt, shook his head at one point as the prosecutor described the charges, but showed no other reaction. FBI agents had arrested Gotti early Tuesday at his Long Island home.
It is not the first time Gotti has been rounded up by federal agents.
In 1999, he pleaded guilty to racketeering crimes including bribery, extortion, gambling and fraud. He was sentenced to 77 months in prison and was released in 2005.
But less than two months before he was released, prosecutors brought a separate racketeering case for an alleged kidnapping and attempted murder plot against Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa — an outspoken critic of the Gottis. The trials in 2005 and 2006 ended in hung juries and mistrials after Gotti used the defense that he had quit the mob for good in the late 1990s. "It's enough now. They got to let go," Gotti after the third trial, saying he hoped to return to a quiet life with his wife and six children. If convicted of the new charges, Gotti faces up to life in prison. His father died in prison six years ago while serving a life term on his 1992 murder and racketeering charges.

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James and Quintarius Shorter "773"Gang members have been tied to at least three homicides

The seven men indicted this week on drug and racketeering charges are part of a violent gang that called itself "773" after the address on Thigpen Road in Gadsden County where they grew up, investigators said.New details on the gang surfaced Thursday during a news conference at the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office. Also, state officials announced a new initiative to crack down on gang activity.The gang members have been tied to at least three homicides, said Lt. Jim Corder. Also, investigators believe the gang was bringing up kilos of cocaine from South Florida each month. At one point, the gang controlled all the street-level drug trade in Sawdust, a rural community of about 500 to 700 residents seven miles outside Quincy.
And the gang is involved in drag racing in the county, but it has been difficult for law enforcement to catch them in the act."It happens very quickly, (and) it happens at undisclosed locations," he said.The Sheriff's Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement seized cash and several accessorized vehicles with a total value of about $200,000 with the help of the U.S. Marshal Service, Florida Capitol Police and the State Attorney's Office.Five of the gang members were arrested this week. Another two are at-large and wanted. The seven are ringleaders and the original members of the gang, Corder said.The men were indicted last month in Orange County by a statewide grand jury on charges of criminal racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to traffic in cocaine and conspiracy to traffic in marijuana, authorities announced Wednesday. Those arrested are Terrance Shorter, 28; Quintarius Shorter, 25; Gabriel James, 26; Aaron Thomas, 29; and Daltonica Shorter, 33. Chief Judge Kathleen Kroll of West Palm Beach set bail at $1.5 million each. The men will be transported on an undisclosed date to Orange County, where they will be tried, Corder said.James and Quintarius Shorter are also facing first-degree murder charges in connection with the 2001 shooting death of Travis Sentel Green, 21. The gang also is suspected of being behind the 2004 shooting death of Melvin Lamar Northern, 24.Investigators are still looking for suspected gang member Ladipo "Chad" Bethea, who's wanted on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of a Huntsville, Ala., man. The man was shot Jan. 13 after an illegal street race in Birmingham. Investigators haven't identified the other wanted gang member.The indictments were the result of a three-year probe that began when investigators decided to take a closer look at cold-case murders in Gadsden County, said FDLE Special Agent Supervisor Chris Hirst.Now, deputies are working with school officials to keep young people from joining the gang. "Wannabes" as young as 13 are being initiated, which usually means they're beaten for several minutes and then required to commit a crime, from a home-invasion robbery to battery.FDLE will be forming a Gang and Habitual Offender Strike Team to combat gang-related crime, which isn't limited to Gadsden County."Gangs are on the rise all across the area," Hirst said. "There are other gangs similar to this one that have been operating for some time."

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Eric Burton

Eric Burton became a public eyesore at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday when five digital billboards began broadcasting his face across Central Florida.
The faces of the region's most notorious fugitives will reach tens of thousands of motorists daily as part of an advertising push in support of Crimeline, the cash-for-tips crime-fighting program.
"It's absolutely huge for us," Crimeline coordinator Barb Bergin said after Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and police Chief Val Demings unveiled a billboard mock-up at police headquarters. "The more people who see them, the more cases we can help solve."
Burton, 32, is being sought in the New Year's Day killing of an Orange County man and the shootings of two teenagers.
He was last seen fleeing in a metallic-green 2002 Ford Mustang from the shooting outside a bar on South Rio Grande Avenue.
Images of Burton and other fugitives will alternate with conventional advertising on the billboards, which are owned by Clear Channel Outdoor. The company is donating the advertising space to Crimeline.
Arrested 42 times before, Burton is the sort of repeat felon targeted by another Crimeline program that Dyer discussed Wednesday.
"We are breaking the culture of silence," said the mayor, referring to an aggressive campaign offering $1,000 rewards to anyone who gives information leading to the confiscation of an illegal gun and an arrest with gun charges. "We've saved lives because Orlando residents have taken a stand against violent crime."
In the gun bounty's first year, Crimeline received 910 tips on criminals with guns in Orange County.
As of Wednesday, the program had agreed to pay $38,000 for gun tips last year. Not all of the rewards had been collected because some tipsters have not claimed the money.

Overall, tips to Crimeline in 2007 led to 1,199 arrests and cleared 1,372 criminal cases in the six-county Central Florida region, Bergin said.

The "WANTED" billboard campaign, which Clear Channel Outdoor runs in several cities, has produced numerous arrests in Philadelphia, Memphis and Indianapolis, according to police.

The Central Florida billboards are at the intersections of State Road 408 and Kirkman Road; Interstate 4 and Fairbanks Avenue; I-4 and Wymore Road; Semoran Boulevard and U.S. Highway 17-92; and S.R. 434 and U.S. 17-92.

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