Thread: Mexican Mafia members had cellphones, drugs in fed jail

Mexican Mafia members had cellphones, drugs in fed jail

By Guillermo Contreras
Updated 09:50 p.m., Thursday, February 9, 2012

Two members of the Texas Mexican Mafia pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that they got cellphones and drugs smuggled into a federal jail with help from a guard.

Paul “Polo” Hernandez and Jesse C. “Chuy” Guerra also pleaded guilty to an extortion and drug-possession charge for their roles in the gang's enforcement of a 10-percent “street tax” on other drug dealers in San Antonio. Guerra's cousin Fernando “Klan” Delgado also pleaded guilty Thursday to a heroin-possession charge.

The three were among 12 snared in November 2010 by the San Antonio Police Department and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Three of the 12 pleaded guilty last year and were sentenced to prison.

Hernandez's plea deal said he made several phone calls while awaiting trial on drug-related charges at the Central Texas Detention Facility, a federal jail in San Antonio run by Florida-based The GEO Group.

In the calls, Hernandez directed his wife to find heroin and a gun he had hidden on his property that police missed when they raided the couple's home, the plea deal said.

Hernandez also asked his wife to contact another Texas Mexican Mafia member to let him know that Hernandez had identified three “snitches” who cooperated with police, the plea deal said. One of the three was later found murdered, the deal said.

Hernandez and Guerra also admitted that they had four cell phones — three were found on Guerra and one on Hernandez — and small amounts of marijuana and heroin in the lockup, according to deputy U.S. Marshal Eric De Los Santos.

Three people were charged in the smuggling and await trial, including former GEO employee Jack Shane McNeal, inmate Antonio Molina-Ortega and Marisol Reyna Mermella, records show.

Hernandez and Guerra face up to 30 years at sentencing later this year.

gcontreras@express-news.net

Mexican Mafia members had cellphones, drugs in fed jail - San Antonio Express-News

I feel silly, but what is the diff between mexican cartels and mafia?

Originally Posted by SicNTiredInSoCal

I feel silly, but what is the diff between mexican cartels and mafia?

"Mexican Mafia" is the official NAME of a prison gang.
The Mexican Mafia (Spanish: Mafia Mexicana), also also known as La eMe (Spanish for the letter M), is a Mexican American highly-organized, ruthless crime organization.[1][4] Surenos use the number 13 to show allegiance to the Mexican Mafia. M is the 13th letter of the alphabet. Law enforcement officials report that La eMe is the most powerful gang within the California prison system.[11] Government officials state that there are currently 155–300 official members of the Mexican Mafia with around 990 associates who assist La eMe in carrying out its illegal activities in the hopes of becoming full members.[12] Sureño street gangs and the Mexican Mafia are almost ethnically homogenous, that is, they consist of almost entirely of Hispanic members. When Sureños enter correctional facilities, they are required to put aside their rivalries and obey the Mexican Mafia or suffer possible lethal consequences.
Mexican Mafia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thanks, JD.