Deltona man arrested in Latin Kings gang bust

The Votran driver is a group leader, cops say.

Tanya Perez-Brennan | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted August 22, 2006
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Volusia County officials know Jorge Villacis as a "mild-mannered" bus driver and an "exemplary" employee for the Votran bus service.

Prosecutors in Hillsborough County on Monday called the 30-year-old Deltona resident one of the top five leaders in the state of the notorious Latin Kings street gang.

Villacis was one of 39 people arrested in a raid at a rented club Sunday afternoon that took every known leader of the Latin Kings in Florida off the street, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said Monday.

The "extremely violent" gang has been involved in major crimes ranging from drug dealing to attempted murder, Gee said. Prosecutors say more charges could result from the arrests, which occurred without violence.

Despite Villacis' address, Deltona is not a hotbed of Latin Kings activity, although there are some gang members based in Orlando, said Christine Brown, a prosecutor with the Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office. Villacis was the only person from the Metro Orlando area arrested in the raid.

Volusia County sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said deputies have stopped Villacis in recent years for traffic citations, but he was not on the agency's radar for any gang activity.

Deputies who work with the sheriff's Intelligence Unit and Crime Suppression Team said they know of some Latin Kings who live in Deltona, but they have no reports of any problems, crimes or acts of violence.

"For the most part, the few who live here seem to reside in our area but go elsewhere to associate and conduct their gang activities," Davidson said.

No one answered a knock on the door Monday afternoon at the three-bedroom, two-bath house on Saxon Boulevard listed as Villacis' address. A neighbor, who would not give her name, said she never saw any unusual activity at the house, which property records show sold a year ago for $159,900.

"It's very quiet over there. The only person I see coming and going is the mom," she said. "There's never a lot of cars over there."

Brown said that most gang members have day jobs.

"It's perfectly normal," she said. "Many of the people that we have investigated have normal jobs. I think it helps them to try and establish legitimate behavior."

Brown said the gang expects its members to work, because they donate some of their earnings to the organization.

All of the Latin Kings' so-called "crowns" in the state attended the Tampa meeting, called to discuss leadership issues after one of the gang's leaders was severely beaten by other high-ranking members in May, Gee said.

Villacis was known within the organization as "King Buffy," Brown said. He served as secretary of the Florida operation, maintaining gang records and keeping track of donations, she said. He was arrested on charges of conspiracy to engage in racketeering activity, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison, Brown said.

Villacis moved to Deltona from New York City, where he maintained strong ties with the gang, Brown said. He was interviewed, she said, in an HBO documentary called, Latin Kings: A Street Gang Story.

Villacis was held on $250,000 bail Monday night at a Hillsborough jail.

Dave Byron, Volusia County spokesman, confirmed that Villacis has worked as a bus driver on a west Volusia bus route for Votran since January 2004. Byron said Votran management considered Villacis an "exemplary" employee and described him as "mild-mannered."

Votran employees work for a company that has a contract with the county, Byron said, but Villacis will not be allowed to drive buses for now.

"If this individual is dangerous, we don't want him out there with the public," Byron said.

About 100 local officers and federal agents participated in Sunday's raid. Ten guns, five ammunition magazines and a small amount of marijuana and cocaine also were seized.

An undercover deputy said it's hard to tell where and how many people are affiliated with the Latin Kings statewide, but there are about 70 members in the Tampa area.

Gee, the Hillsborough sheriff, said the gang has been active in the area for at least 20 years and may have ties to chapters in New York and Chicago. The Chicago Crime Commission estimates there are more than 20,000 Latin Kings in the Chicago area.

Sunday's raid in Tampa was the culmination of a 14-month investigation that also included Tampa police; the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and local prosecutors.

"We have been inside this organization for well over a year, following many of their moves throughout the state," Gee said.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Kristen Reed and Stephen D. Barnes of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. Tanya Perez-Brennan can be reached at tperezb@orlandosentinel.com or 386-851-7923.



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