sfgate.com
Vivian Ho, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, February 2, 2012

(02-02) 15:05 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- A former member of the MS-13 gang testified today that the man accused of murdering a father and his two sons in San Francisco helped initiate him into the gang.

Abraham Martinez, 22, took the stand for the prosecution in San Francisco Superior Court in the trial of his former brother-in-law, Edwin Ramos. Prosecutors say Ramos, 25, shot and killed Tony Bologna, 48, and his sons Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, as they were driving near their home in the Excelsior district in June 2008 because he mistook one of the sons for a rival gang member.

Martinez, whose sister was once married to Ramos, testified this morning about his days in a gang called 20th Street, an offshoot of MS-13 that claims its namesake street in the Mission District as its territory.

Martinez said he first became involved in the gang when he was 9 years old. He was living and going to school in El Sobrante, but was drawn to the Mission District gang because his uncles were members, he said.

To prove himself, he had to steal cars and "put in work," which meant attacking rival gang members, Martinez testified. MS-13 is allied with the Sureño gang, and its rivals were Norteños who claimed 18th Street, 24th Street and other areas of the upper Mission District as their territory.

Martinez said the last step in his initiation came when he was about 10 years old. He was "jumped in" - three members of the gang hit and kicked him for 20 seconds. Martinez said one of those who helped bruise him and knock a tooth loose was "Popeye," Ramos' gang nickname.

Martinez testified as part of a deal with the district attorney's office to drop charges against him for allegedly stabbing and assaulting an 18-year-old man in 2008. He pleaded guilty in January 2009 to federal charges of conspiracy to racketeer for MS-13 and illegal possession and use of a firearm.

The stabbing victim's sister testified before Martinez, saying the three men who attacked her brother wounded him so badly that he had to use his hands to keep his organs in his torso as he was taken to the hospital.

Marla Zamora, Ramos' attorney, said outside court that prosecutors were stooping by putting Martinez on the stand. Although she acknowledged that Ramos had been a gang member, she said he hadn't been involved in MS-13 for several years and did not have an adult criminal record.

"I don't want to comment on any evidence, but a rat is a rat," Zamora said. "It's beyond snitching."

Ramos, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, committed gang-related crimes as a minor. The Chronicle reported in 2008 that juvenile-justice officials, relying on San Francisco's sanctuary-city policy, twice kept him from possible deportation.

E-mail Vivian Ho at vho@sfchronicle.com.

Read more: Ex-gang associate testifies against Ramos