News
6 convicted in Aurora cocaine ring

June 20, 2006

BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter




A federal jury on Monday convicted six men of running a major cocaine trafficking ring in Aurora.

Four of the six men were Latin Kings gang members and all were accused of operating the network that often brought violence to the streets of Aurora. The jury convicted the six on 31 of 32 counts.

The six, all of Aurora, were among 21 people indicted in the cocaine ring brought down last year by federal authorities in a massive raid. Over five years, the ring dealt more than 160 kilos of cocaine worth $2.8 million, prosecutors said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Rachel Cannon said the convictions not only shut down the drug dealing in Aurora, but a "culture of violence" that came with it.

Among those convicted Monday were two Latin King "enforcers" who supplied weapons to other gang-bangers and carried out the discipline.

Also convicted and facing a minimum of 20 years was drug dealer Saul Tejeda, who distributed large quantities of cocaine weekly.

Fourteen other defendants have pleaded guilty, and one other plans to go to trial this fall.

nkorecki@suntimes.com