Royale LeBlanc, now 23, was convicted on June 12 of first-degree murder for the Nov. 25, 2006, killing of Carlos Urzua, of San Francisco. He was also found guilty of second-degree robbery and participation in a criminal street gang.Urzua, 29, was robbed and attacked by a handful of men at about 3 a.m. after being dropped off outside his home in the 900 block of Alabama Street. He was stabbed three times in the neck, abdomen and chest, suffering 18 wounds total. He died later at the hospital.Some of Urzua's friends witnessed the attack and called police as Urzua bled to death in his father's arms.LeBlanc and Jonathan Johnston, reputed Norteno gang members, were arrested a short time later after they were spotted driving nearby. Their white Chevrolet Caprice matched the description of the suspect vehicle and bloody clothes were found inside the car.LeBlanc, nicknamed "Crazy Teno," also had Urzua's cell phone.The main witness in the trial was a young man who testified he was in the car with LeBlanc, Johnston and others that had been following the car in which Urzua had been riding.The witness, who was 16 years old at the time and a prospective gang member, said Johnston, the reputed shot-caller in the gang whose nickname was "Savage," mistook Urzua for a member of the rival Sureno gang.
Johnston told LeBlanc, "There's a scrap, go get him," according to the witness.
The witness said LeBlanc followed Urzua up the front stairs, and then robbed and stabbed him.Urzua, a single father of a 10-year-old girl, who lived with his father and younger brother at the home, had no gang affiliation.Urzua's father read a statement in Spanish in court today, thanking the judge, police and prosecutors for bringing "justice" for his son's death.Urzua's sister, Karla Urzua, said she was "grateful ... that justice has been served for my brother Carlos."LeBlanc's attorney, Mark Goldrosen, argued for leniency, saying his client came from a "very disadvantaged and very difficult background."Goldrosen said LeBlanc's mother abandoned him as an infant and that his father died of a drug overdose when he was young.LeBlanc then lived in the care of his grandparents, but a lack of emotional support "left him vulnerable to fall into the gang lifestyle," Goldrosen said.
Judge Jerome Benson, however, sentenced LeBlanc to the full term of 28 years to life in prison.Benson called the murder "depressing and anger-provoking" and "an example of the mindless gangland violence that plagues many urban areas in this country."
Benson said the evidence presented at trial showed "that this was a wanton, senseless, monstrous and brutal murder."Johnston, now 30, was convicted in June of second-degree murder and participation in a criminal street gang for Urzua's killing. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 9.

California Department of Justice special agents, in partnership with the Stockton Police Department, today arrested members of the violent Norteno street gang, which terrorized Stockton with drive-by shootings and crystal methamphetamine trafficking at the direction of the Nuestra Familia prison mafia.
“The Norteno street gang increased its drug trafficking and violent criminal activity in Stockton after our gang suppression team shut down one of its competitors, the Loc Town Crips, last year,” said Attorney General Brown. “Today’s crackdown demonstrates the importance of keeping relentless pressure on gangs that sell crystal meth and terrorize the public. The Stockton Police Department should be commended for its efforts to drive this street gang out of the city.”
The California Department of Justice Gang Suppression Enforcement Team, known as GSET, joined the Stockton Police Department in October 2007 to crack down on a violent Norteno gang which had recently increased its activity in Stockton. Last year, state agents shut down a violent Cambodian street gang in Stockton, the Loc Town Crips. The elimination of the Crips gang increased the opportunity for Nortenos to traffic crystal methamphetamine and commit assaults and drive by shootings.
“In the fight against gang violence in California it is important to follow-up after a crime sweep to prevent gang activity from returning,” said Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement Assistant Chief Jerry Hunter “This crackdown demonstrates that the attorney general’s gang enforcement team is committed to running meth traffickers out of town.”Norteno gang members in San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties have committed an increasing number of gang-related shootings, stabbings, carjackings and residential robberies according to Stockton Police Department Detective James Ridenour. Today the Norteno street gang, which was first identified in the City of Stockton in 1990, has approximately 1,180 members and associates in Stockton.
This morning state agents and local police arrested 8 validated gang members and 6 affiliates, served 9 search warrants, conducted 4 parole searches and 2 probation searches. Agents seized 15 guns including 1 nine millimeter semi-automatic handgun, 2 rifles, 1 shotgun and various other handguns and ammunition. Agents also seized cocaine, methamphetamine, $42,000, and are a continuing to serve search warrants in Tracy, Lodi and Stockton.All gang members arrested could face from three years up to 25 years to life in prison depending upon the charges which include possession of crystal meth for sales, weapons violations, conspiracies and participation in criminal street gangs and street terrorism including Penal Code Section 186.22.The Nortenos arrested today were involved in street level drug trafficking, conspiracies to commit assault and multiple weapons violations. During the investigation which led to today’s arrests, agents arrested 14 suspected gang members in Tracy, Lodi and Stockton.Nortenos are a Hispanic street gang controlled by Nuestra Familia, a rival of the Mexican Mafia, which was organized in Folsom State Prison in 1968 are operates primarily in the northern parts of California. The two prison mafias divide California into northern and southern territories through a line that runs between Delano to Salinas. Norteno gang members advertise their gang affiliation with symbols including the number 14, “209”, and “XIV” in graffiti, on clothing, and on tattoos. The gang members often claim the color red.Agencies involved in today’s crackdown include the California Department of Justice Gang Suppression Enforcement Team, Stockton Police Department, Lodi Police Department, Tracy Police Department, Manteca Police, San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, The Central Valley Gang Impact Team, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, California Highway Patrol, San Joaquin County Probation, State Parole, and the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office.
The California Department of Justice launched the Gang Suppression Enforcement Team in 2006 in response to rising levels of street gang and violent criminal activity in California. There are gang suppression teams Los Angeles, Riverside, San Francisco and Fresno which disrupt the organizational flow of gangs to fight for a terror-free environment in California by:Identifying key gang leaders and ultimately dismantling the organization’s hierarchySeizing street gang assetsGathering intelligence and sharing analysis with law enforcement agenciesState investigators often assist local law enforcement when the gang problem has become so severe that the crime is bleeding into neighboring jurisdictions. Approximately 27 percent of all California homicides between 1996 and 2005 were gang related.

30-year old Norteno gang member named Jesse Chinchuretta was shot once in the back and died a short time later at a Yakima hospital.
Yakima Police say a argument broke out between rival gang members in a apartment parking lot at 204 South Fair Avenue. The suspects in a vehicle opened fire hitting the victim and one of his friends. The friend is expected to survive his injuries.
At this time YPD has not made an arrest yet. Mr. Chinchuretta's death was the city of Yakima's 3rd homicide of 2008. The city had 6 homicides in 2007.