Jul 1, 4:10 PM EDT


Not-guilty pleas in LA gang racketeering case

By THOMAS WATKINS
Associated Press Writer







LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Thirty alleged members and associates of a northeast Los Angeles gang pleaded not guilty to federal racketeering and drug-related offenses Tuesday.

The defendants, including seven women, were among 70 people named in a federal indictment unsealed last week and arrested in a subsequent sweep. They are alleged to be associates or members of the Drew Street clique of the Avenues gang, a Hispanic gang based in and around the Glassell Park area.

Prosecutors say the clique kept a tight and ruthless control on the area, killing or threatening to kill outsiders and running a criminal enterprise comprising some 500 members who sold crack cocaine, methampthetamine and committed violent crimes.

The 88-count indictment includes charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, the attempted murder of two Los Angeles Police Department officers, and numerous drug offenses.

Authorities contend the defendants controlled drug trafficking in their area, levying "taxes" on dealers that then were shared with the Mexican Mafia prison gang.

None of those arraigned Tuesday spoke except to answer procedural questions, though several waved at friends and family members sitting in the packed courtroom.

The defendants, all wearing jail uniforms, were split into groups of five as they entered their pleas. Several listened to proceedings through a Spanish interpreter.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Abrams set a trial date of Aug. 19.

Among those in court was Francisco "Pancho" Real, the lead defendant. Prosecutors say he is the "shot-caller," or leader, of Drew Street, operating under the authorization of the Mexican Mafia. He is accused of murder, extortion, recruiting and initiating new members into the gang and several other charges.

Real's attorney did not immediately return a call for comment.

Some of those named in the indictment were already in custody, including Real's mother, Maria "Chata" Leon, 44. Twice deported as an illegal immigrant, she was arrested in April and charged with felony re-entry into the United States from Mexico. The federal indictment accuses her and some of her children of drug-dealing and other crimes.

Members of the Drew Street clique were thought to be involved a series of shootings on Feb. 21 that culminated in a shootout between police and gunmen. One man wielding an AK-47 assault rifle was killed. Police said they confronted Drew Street gang members after the gang-related killing of a man who had been walking with his 2-year-old granddaughter near an elementary school.

On Aug.13, 2003, prosecutors say, two defendants attacked two police officers and attempted to shoot them with a gun belonging to one of the officers.

The Avenues is a multi-generational gang formed in the 1940s and named after a series of numbered streets intersecting the neighborhood. Prosecutors say the gang routinely engages in acts of violence and intimidation and often engages in hate crimes against blacks visiting or living in the area.


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