Gangster has been sentenced to death for murdering two people, including a 14-year-old girl who was shot as she crouched outside a Compton market.

Steven Cheatham has been sentenced to death for murdering two people, including a 14-year-old girl who was shot as she crouched outside a Compton market.A judge in Los Angeles sentenced Steven Cheatham on Friday.Cheatham, 32, was convicted in October of two counts of first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder.
Prosecutors say Cheatham confronted Elvira Ramirez and her two friends as she went to use a pay phone near the market in 2001. He wounded her friends, then shot the girl in the back of the head and again in the leg after she fell to the ground.None of the victims had any gang affiliation.Cheatham also was sentenced for fatally shooting an unarmed man in the face in 1998 and wounding two people in 2000.

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Two teenage males are dead after an afternoon shooting in Highland Park

Two teenage males are dead after an afternoon shooting in Highland Park that police say may be gang related. Officer Karen Smith of the Los Angeles Police Department said the shooting occurred about 3:30 p.m. near Figueroa Street and York Boulevard. According to initial reports, the two victims were fighting with a man when another man pulled out a gun and shot the pair. One teenager was pronounced dead at the scene; the other was transported to a local hospital in critical condition and died there. A witness to the shooting told police that the shooter was a gang member, Smith said.

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Alex Lozano, president of the Mongols' San Bernardino chapter, and members Manuel Armandarez, Rafael Lozano, Ricardo Gutierrez,charged with attempted

Six Mongols are charged with a shooting at a 2005 Toys for Tots charity drive in Norco that injured three people, including a Norco firefighter. The Mongols opened fire after a fistfight with rival Hells Angels members attending the event at the Maverick Steakhouse. Alex Lozano, president of the Mongols' San Bernardino chapter, and members Manuel Armandarez, Rafael Lozano, Ricardo Gutierrez, Andres Rodriguez and Mario Angulo all are charged with attempted murder in connection with the shooting, the document states. Other gang members are charged with causing a riot at a 2002 Ultimate Fighting Match at the Morongo Casino in Cabazon, where people were attacked with knives and chairs as Mongols members began kicking victims with steel-toed boots. Among those arrested Tuesday was Mongols President Ruben Cavazos. In June this year, he claimed that police were infringing on the Mongols' social organization by arresting several members after they nearly shut down Interstate 15 by performing stunts en route to a rally in San Diego. O'Brien said the evidence compiled in the indictment is proof that the gang is not a social club. "Any social organization willing to use violence poses a significant threat," O'Brien said. "These charges of drug trafficking, murder and mayhem clearly show this is not a recreational club." ATF agents served search warrants at several Inland locations beginning at 5 a.m. Tuesday. At Rafael Lozano's Orange Street home in Redlands, ATF agents broke down a deadbolted door. Agents ransacked the house and said they recovered a gun, ammunition, Mongols clothing and paraphernalia. Lozano had a "Say No to Drugs" sticker on his front door and a sticker of a Redlands police badge. A security camera monitored his front porch as a new Mercedes and a Ford Shelby Cobra sat in the driveway. Lozano had no prior criminal charges in Riverside or San Bernardino counties, other than driving violations. He is charged in the Norco shooting and with methamphetamine sales as part of the Mongols gang. The raids also hit Los Angeles, Washington, Colorado, Florida and Nevada. In the Los Angeles and Inland areas, authorities seized seven pounds of methamphetamine, about 70 motorcycles and about 71 weapons. The Mongols organization was created in Montebello during the 1970s after Hispanics were excluded from the Hells Angels gang, the indictment states. The club now boasts chapters in Canada, Mexico and Italy on its Web site. Mongols members sell methamphetamine and cocaine to raise money to pay dues to the gang leadership, the indictment states. In exchange, they receive protection from a violent feud with the Mexican Mafia and other criminal street gangs, the indictment states. Mongols award a special skull-and-bones patch to members who commit murders or shootings to increase their status in the club, according to an ATF affidavit. All 71 men arrested were expected to be arraigned in Los Angeles Federal Court and will proceed to a jury trial in their next court proceedings, U.S. Attorney's office spokesman Thom Mrozek said

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Maria "Chata" Leon matriarch of a large family of drug dealing gang members.

Maria "Chata" Leon
Federal and local law enforcement officers served 25 federal search warrants, and picked up 32 Avenues gang members and associates in the pre-dawn raids. Twenty-six of the gang members who were indicted were already in local and federal custody including Maria “Chata” Leon who is reputed to be the matriarch of a large family of drug dealing gang members.The indictment of Leon and her extended family for mostly drug related charges was a coup for local law enforcement officials who spent years trying to break up the control the family had over the Drew Street community.
Leon’s family members are affiliated with the Avenues gang. The Avenues take their name from the numbered corridors that slice through Figueroa Street, Highland Park’s bustling yet economically poor main drag, home to Mexican grocery stores, check-cashing businesses, nail salons, swap meets, car washes, fast-food joints and a smattering of Mexican restaurants, galleries and nightclubs with a citywide draw.
The Avenues have cliques, each of which claims a gang territory based on where gang members live. The four main cliques are 43rd Aves, Avenues 57, Cypress Avenues, and Drew Street, all centered on the streets for which they are named. Members of the 43rd Aves were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in 2006 for hate-crime charges for harassing and attacking African Americans in Highland Park. Leon, a young toughie from a rough, lawless Mexican village in Guerrero State settled on Drew Street in 1985 and gave birth to 13 children — including Jose Leon, Danny Leon, Nicolas Real, Randy Martinez, Francisco Real and Jesus Martinez. Leon dealt drugs and staked her claim on Drew Street, in a three-bedroom house stocked with guns and explosives.On Wednesday, federal authorities indicted Leon and her sons Jose, Nicolas, Francisco and Jesus. Also indicted was Jesus Israel Martinez, the father of Randy and Jesus. Her son, Danny Leon, died in a gun battle with Los Angeles Police Department gang officers in February. Cypress Park gang members killed her son Randy Martinez last year. Over the years, Leon did stints in jail and prison, and her growing brood, the extended Leon crime family slowly turned Drew Street into a hellish micro community that L.A. cops, politicians and code enforcers could not turn around.Her longest stint in prison came after a Halloween bust in 2002, when the Glendale Police Department used a search warrant to enter her longtime home. She was arrested for narcotics sales and child endangerment after officers found automatic weapons and explosives throughout the home — where she was also raising young children. Law enforcement officers arrested her son, Francisco “Pancho” Real, the leader of the gang and the lead defendant in the indictment, at his home in Glendale. According to prosecutors, Mexican Mafia members authorized Francisco to take control of the Drew-Estara neighborhood last summer.In 2003, Francisco was convicted of accessory to murder in the killing of a local man who was shot to death in front of Leon’s home – an apparent drug deal gone bad. Inside the house, the cops discovered a shrine to the patron saint of narco trafficking, Jesus Malverde, a folklore hero in crime-ridden Sinaloa. While in Los Angeles County jail on the accessory to murder charge, Francisco was arrested along with fellow inmates for the stabbing death of an inmate. The case was later dropped by the district attorney's office.Earlier, around 2000, Francisco did a short stint in federal prison for illegal alien smuggling. According to the federal indictment, Francisco brought in $1,200 a day in drug money. The day after his brother Danny’s death, Francisco, who was being wiretapped by federal authorities, shrugged it off saying, “shit happens.” A month later, he was back in business. He ordered the owner of a tire shop to pay him $30,000 within 24 hours or he would kill him and burn down his shop, according to the indictment. When the owner balked, Francisco told the tire owner that he was doing business in Francisco’s territory. Maria Leon's oldest son Nicolas Real was indicted for racketeering, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, and the attempted murder of a family in July of 2007. According to a law enforcement officer, Nicolas pointed a gun at a family who was lost in the Drew Street neighborhood after the driver honked at him because he was blocking traffic. One of the victims told police that Nicolas said: “Don't you know who I am?” He was arrested by the LAPD for assault with a deadly weapon. Earlier, Nicolas was arrested for driving around Franklin High School threatening people with a handgun and illegal alien smuggling along with his brother Francisco. In 2005, Nicolas was arrested by the Maywood Police Department on three counts of attempted murder after a shooting at the El Potero Club that left a fellow Avenues gangster a paraplegic. Leon’s son Jose was arrested on November 26, 2007 for a string of robberies in the Highland Park area committed with a machine gun. His partner/cousin Sergio Martinez – a known drug seller at the Drew Street house was also arrested. Martinez was also named in the indictment. Maria Leon was released from state prison in 2006 and was immediately deported by immigration officials. Her house on Drew Street was targeted by the City Attorney's Office as a nuisance abatement property after they found drugs and guns inside. The rest of her family was forced to leave. Two days after Danny’s death, Francisco arranged for his mother and her property to be smuggled back into the United States. He advised his 44-year-old mother “that she would need to be prepared to walk part of the distance.” On February 27, Francisco Real was trying to find a false identification for his mother, according to the indictment. Early the following morning, a friend of Francisco’s drove Leon back into the United States in Francisco’s Toyota Camry. Once back in Los Angeles, rumors abounded that Leon regularly visited her son Danny’s grave at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale. In April, immigration authorities caught up with Leon in front of her former house on Drew Street and charged her with reentering the country illegally. Leon, who was in federal custody, was indicted on numerous drug charges including distributing crack cocaine along Drew Street. The Internal Revenue Service confiscated her second home in Victorville.

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12 people were killed in an bloody weekend I want all the gangs crushed. I want gang attire demolished

12 people were killed in an bloody weekend - half of them in the San Fernando Valley. While the LAPD's top brass tried to assure residents there is nothing to panic about - even calling the weekend murder spike a "blip" - victims' families reeled in anguish. "I am devastated. I want all the gangs crushed. I want gang attire demolished," said Leigh Lopez before breaking down in tears as she lit a candle for her nephew, Johnny Ray Lopez, who was gunned down in Panorama City not far from his home as he walked to a friend's house. "I am sick of it. We need to do something," she said, noting that her nephew was not a gang member. "The mayor, the chief of police, they need to do something. They need to crack down like they say they are on television." The string of homicides began with a fatal fight outside a party in Hollywood about 9 p.m. Friday and ended shortly before midnight Sunday in South Los Angeles with the shooting death of a 20-year-old.
"There have been no connections or trends, nor can they be inferred as a result of these homicides," Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said during an afternoon news conference Monday. "It is nothing to become alarmed about." Still, homicides are up 8 percent in the city and nearly 10 percent in the Valley over the same time last year. In the San Fernando Valley, the six killings ranged from a domestic-violence dispute, in which a man allegedly broke a wine bottle over the head of his mother's boyfriend and then stabbed him with it, to a drunk driver who slammed into the back of a car, killing the driver and his friend. None of the deaths appeared to be related and only one was blamed on gangs.
"The city is, in fact, not under siege," said Paysinger, the Los Angeles Police Department's head of operations. The last time the city had a similar wave of homicides was when 11 people were killed over a four-day period in January.
"This is indeed a blip on the continuum in terms of crime."
But he said with thousands of guns on the street, the weather heating up and gas prices rising, the LAPD will be on alert. Officers will be asked to defer vacations and training to keep up the number of officers on patrol, he said.
The LAPD is placing its elite Metro units in South Los Angeles and a violent-crime task force in the San Fernando Valley to quell crime hot spots. Investigators are also clocking in overtime in the Northeast and Central Valley, where there's been a rash of shootings and violent crime over the past week. Last month, six shootings killing two people and injuring many others, occurred within a four-hour period in the San Fernando Valley. "We are keeping our officers focused on hot spots and trying to deter further acts of violence by identifying people with guns," said Deputy Chief Michel Moore, who oversees the LAPD in the Valley. Police arrested suspects in five of this weekend's six Valley killings, including a 17-year-old. Police say the juvenile was a riding a bike when he approached Lopez and a friend about 2 p.m. Sunday near the 8400 block of Greenbush Avenue, asked them what gang they were from, then shot them. Lopez, who was hit several times in the back and torso, died at the scene. His friend was taken to a hospital and is reported in stable condition. Lopez was a musician in New Mexico and had returned to the Valley less than six months ago to help his sick mother. She fainted and struck her head when she heard the news of her son's death, her family said.
In Arleta just after midnight Saturday, police found the body of a man in his 30s that had apparently been wrapped and dumped. The man appeared to have died from multiple wounds to his torso, police said. Police are trying to determine his identity. Shortly before midnight in Sun Valley, a 34-year-old man was killed when another man hit him with a wine bottle and stabbed him with the broken glass. Police said a 20-year-old man from North Hollywood was in custody, but would not release his name. Detective Tom Townsend said the victim, who also was not identified, was a friend of the suspect's mother. "The suspect didn't like his mom having male companions," Townsend said. "I'm pretty happy right now because we got a confession." In Encino, two people were killed when their vehicle was rear-ended by a suspected drunk driver who was arrested in connection with the deaths. The 2 a.m. crash Saturday occurred when a 1995 Mercury Mystique driven west on Ventura Boulevard by Sean Mishlof, 24, hit the rear of a 1990 Nissan Sentra and the impact killed 23-year old Sepehr Keshavarz of Iran and 25-year-old Farzad Etesamifar of Reseda. Mishlof, who remained at the scene, was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and charged with murder, police said.
At 2:40 a.m. Sunday in North Hills, security guards found the body of Soccoro Lopez, 29, who was parked behind a Walgreens, near Nordhoff Street and Columbus Avenue, and sitting behind the steering wheel of his Honda. Lopez, who left behind a wife and young child, was sitting in the driver's seat and had been shot in the torso - an apparent victim of a robbery.
Kenneth Harris, 44, who was described as a local transient, was later arrested in connection with the shooting, police said. He was being held at the Valley Jail in Van Nuys in lieu of $1 million bail.

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George Christie Jr former Hells Angels leader was arrested

"There is this mystique that the Hells Angels are bad people and we need to get these bad people," he said, "when in reality, it's mostly a bunch of old guys riding their motorcycles around."
County officials said they spent about $2 million on the 2001-02 case against the Hells Angels, but some think the figure is closer to $6 million.
"I think (former District Attorney Mike) Bradbury spent $6 million to get George on probation," said Sheahen. "Maybe (current District Attorney Greg) Totten can spend $6 million to get him on derision."
George Christie Jr., and his attorney said the delay was evidence of a weak case stemming from years of vindictive, costly intimidation against his client."This continues a pattern of harassment," said Los Angeles defense attorney Robert Sheahen.Delays in filing charges, however, are not uncommon, and people shouldn't read too much into it, Senior Deputy District Attorney Derek Malan said. The office has three years to file, he said."We expect to file felony charges against Mr. Christie once our investigation is complete," Malan said, declining further comment.
Christie was arrested last week — the day before his 61st birthday — after members of a Sheriff's Department gang unit found less than 2 grams of suspected cocaine and methamphetamine in his Ventura home, police said. A gram of cocaine can sell for $50 to $100 on the street.The substances were discovered after one of three search warrants was served at Christie's home in the 400 block of Ventura Avenue. Deputies also determined Christie was under the influence of cocaine and methamphetamine, officials said.A second search warrant was served at the home of Joe Cerezo, 34, who deputies said is a member of the Hells Angels. Cerezo, who lives in the 2900 block of Apache Avenue in Ventura, was arrested after deputies found a stolen shotgun in his bedroom, authorities said. Cerezo also has not been charged yet.A search warrant was also served at the Hells Angels clubhouse at 65 Fix Way, Ventura. Several members were detained at the site, but no arrests were made.Wearing a black sweat suit and glasses, Christie stood at his court appearance Friday, which lasted less than a minute because prosecutors said they needed more time to investigate. Christie agreed to return to court May 16.It was his first time back in criminal court since 2004, when a judge denied a request to reduce his probation in a previous case so he could pursue a career in film and television.Christie declined to comment on the new case. But Sheahen said in interviews this week that Christie has relinquished his role as president and unofficial spokesman for the Hells Angels motorcycle club.Sheahen said authorities are wasting taxpayers' money going after Christie. The father of a 4-year-old boy, Christie spends most of his time at home, particularly since a motorcycle accident last year put him under a doctor's care, the attorney said."All of this stuff is loony. It's nonsense," Sheahen said, speculating any drugs found in Christie's system likely were prescribed. "He's been a perfect probationer" since a massive 2001 drug and racketeering case that made national headlines, Sheahen said.Christie was accused of being the leader of a prescription drug ring that targeted schoolchildren and was one of 28 people indicted by a Ventura County Grand Jury in February 2001. Many of the defendants, including Christie, later reached plea bargains and pleaded to lesser charges.
Prosecutors ultimately dropped 57 of 59 counts and enhancements filed against Christie. He pleaded guilty in 2002 to one count of conspiracy to possess the prescription drug Vicodin for sale, and no contest to a count of filing a false income tax return. He received three years' probation and time served for the 390 days he spent in jail.Authorities released few details about last week's arrest, citing an ongoing investigation. The search warrants were sealed. But authorities said they were not buying that Christie is a reformed man.
"He admitted to the drugs" found in his belongings, sheriff's Sgt. Dave Murray said Friday.Deputies searched his house for evidence of a possibly stolen motorcycle, Murray said. Christie cooperated and later agreed to a urine test, which "came back dirty for cocaine, meth and opiates," Murray said.Sheriff's Capt. Mike Aranda, who leads the county gang unit, described the Hells Angels as an active criminal street gang worth the time and taxpayer expense to monitor."The Hells Angels are absolutely a street gang. We've made a number of arrests of Hells Angels members," mostly on assault and drug-related charges, Ventura police Lt. Quinn Fenwick said. "And I believe we will continue to have problems with them."

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Jury has ordered the death penalty for Ralph Steven Flores

Victims
Christopher Lynch (1999)
Miguel Reyes (12/26/2004)
Fenise Luna (12/29/2004)
Claudia Rosio Chenet (2003)
A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury has ordered the death penalty for an Azusa gang member convicted of killing four people.Ralph Steven Flores, 26, sat impassively at the defense table as the verdict by the jury of nine men and three women was read shortly after 11 a.m. Flores was convicted last year in four separate slayings dating back to 1999. His activities were part of a larger crime wave afflicting the usually tranquil city, authorities said.

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Florencia 13: Greater Los Angeles is now home to some 500 Mexican gangs

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