white supremacist gang member in Orange County was sentenced to death Monday for his involvement in the murder of a fellow gang member who had divulged gang secrets on television, authorities said.Billy Joe Johnson, 46, was convicted last month of assisting two other men in the March 2002 murder of Scott Miller, a founding member of the gang, the Orange County district attorney's office said. Miller was featured in a Fox News broadcast a year earlier that focused on a criminal case against known leaders of the gang.Michael Allen Lamb, 35, and Jacob Anthony Rump, 34, were also convicted for their role in the murder. Last year Lamb was sentenced to death, and in 2007 Rump received life without the possibility of parole.Johnson was charged with this murder Aug. 23, 2007, after the conviction of two previously charged co-defendants. Co-defendants Michael Allen Lamb, 35, and Jacob Anthony Rump, 34, (Case #03CF0441) were convicted by a jury on July 10, 2007, of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, committing murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang, two counts of possession of a firearm by a violent felon, two counts of possession of a firearm by a felon, carrying a firearm as an active gang member, two counts of street terrorism, and the attempted murder of a peace officer. The jury also found true the special circumstance of murder committed for the benefit of a criminal street gang and sentencing enhancements for criminal street gang activity, the personal discharge of a firearm causing death, and vicarious discharge of a firearm causing death as a gang member. On Oct. 5, 2007, Rump was sentenced to the maximum sentence, as sought by the People, of life without the possibility of parole. On June 11, 2008, a jury recommended that Lamb receive the death penalty. Lamb was sentenced Aug. 22, 2008, to death.

The Murder of Scott Miller
In February 2001, Fox 11 News profiled a violent white supremacist criminal street gang, focusing on a pending criminal case against known leaders of the gang who were on trial for conspiracy to commit murder. Scott Miller, a founding member of the gang, was featured in the broadcast, offending fellow gang members who felt he was airing "dirty laundry." While Miller's voice and face were disguised, his tattoos were visible and made it possible for fellow gang members to identify him.
On March 8, 2002, Miller was at a party in Costa Mesa with other members of his white supremacist gang. Johnson lured Miller from the party under the guise of purchasing drugs in Anaheim with the understanding that they would return to the party later. Johnson drove an unsuspecting Miller to an Anaheim apartment complex with the expectation that Lamb and Rump would be waiting there to murder the victim. Lamb and Rump were waiting in an alley and executed Miller by shooting him in the back of the head at close range with a 9mm firearm.On March 11, 2002, Lamb and Rump became involved in a police car chase in Anaheim. They tried to flee from police, jumped from the moving vehicle, and ran off into an apartment complex. As the officers attempted to close in on them, the defendants fired a shot at police officers. Lamb and Rump surrendered after the gun they were firing jammed. The gun used to shoot at the officers was the same 9mm that was used to murder Miller three days earlier. During the murder trial against Lamb and Rump, Johnson lied on the stand by testifying that he had been the shooter in the murder of Miller. He lied in order to make himself a "martyr" for his gang by attempting to keep Lamb and Rump out of prison. In order to testify, Johnson was brought to Orange County from state prison, where he is serving time for an unrelated 2004 gang murder, where he repeatedly hit a man in the head with a hammer.During the penalty phase of the jury trial against Johnson, the defendant admitted to committing two additional murders to which he had not been previously connected. Without giving the names of the victims, Johnson admitted that he had killed one additional man while out of custody and one inmate while in custody. The defendant claimed that he directed violence toward gang members, rapists, "rats", and drug dealers. Johnson testified that his victims brought their murders upon themselves and when asked if he had anything to say to Miller's mother, Johnson replied, "Sorry for your luck." Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.

The 17-year-old male was shot at 7:30 p.m. during a gathering with other young people at a home in the 3900 block of Thomason Avenue near Dyer Street, police said.
The shotgun was fired when an argument began when another group arrived at the gathering, police spokesman Officer Chris Mears said.The wounded teen was taken to Beaumont Army Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.Ambulance transmissions indicated the man had buckshot wounds to the torso and neck.Red and yellow crime scene tape sealed off the area late Monday night."We do have reason to believe it is gang related," Mears said.Police would not confirm comments by residents that the teen was a student at nearby Chapin High School.There had been no arrests. Late Monday night, investigators were talking to neighbors, with the police mobile command center parked on the street.

Return of graffiti markings from the Barrio Williams Street gang whose presence has been almost nonexistent since the mid- '90s."When we do have something that's gang related it's generally going to be something in the library, or something off campus," Laws said. "For a couple of years we were having some gang activity in the teen center on the third floor of the King Library."It took a lot of directed patrol on the part of the library security staff and the officers working in the King Library to minimize and diffuse that problem."Anh Thu Tran, a junior hospitality and management major, said she has not seen any gang activity on campus.
"Around my old neighborhood, yes, my brother has been jumped twice at Independence High, but around campus I haven't heard much about any gang violence," she said. "I'm not here on campus often. I'm here for classes, then I leave."
Tran said she has noticed graffiti tagging on the fence of her sorority house, but doesn't know the markings of any gangs. "There's obviously parties around campus and toward the evenings, or there's people that are walking the streets at night, but we don't know if they're students or not," she said. "They tend to get violent if they are not given access to some of the parties that happen to be around campus. And we've been noticing that lately."Tran said when violence breaks out at a party, they usually call the police. San Jose Community Services Supervisor Mario Maciel, said San Jose is one of the safest cities in the Bay Area.
"I haven't seen any major trends forming," he said.He said most incidents occur at parties thrown by SJSU students, but those are isolated incidents.
"A college student probably is not a gang banger," Maciel said.Laws said gangs have not been a problem on campus. "Through directed enforcement by the university police and by the city police department, we were able to essentially make the Barrio Williams Street gang something that was no longer of concern to the university," he said.Laws said UPD officers have reported seeing graffiti tagging that is associated with that gang, but no other activity has been associated with the Barrio Williams Street gang.Lt. John Spicer, from the San Jose Police Department, said the area adjacent to the campus has the lowest reported amount of gang violence out of the four geographical areas in San Jose. He said those areas include Central Division (where SJSU is located), Foothill Division (East San Jose), Western Division, and the Southern Division.Spicer said 10 incidents were reported in the Central Division in the last month

Bronx gang members whose beef led to the accidental shooting of passing schoolgirl Vada Vasquez complained Monday they are being hassled in jail.Lawyers for four of the five men asked for protective custody at an appearance in Bronx Supreme Court, saying their clients fear for their safety behind bars. "He's faced a fair amount of abuse in custody. He's been having a tough time inside," said Matthew Kluger, lawyer for Cleve Smith, 20. "They be bothering him - even the correction officers," said Scylestina Smith, the suspect's mother. "They threw him in the cold shower. It's f----- up."
The fifth defendant, 16-year-old Carvett Gentles, charged with pulling the trigger that put an exploding bullet into the 15-year-old Bronx Latin student's brain, is already in protective custody as part of standard procedure. The men might be getting the cold shoulder in prison, but they got a boisterous and warm welcome at their court appearance. While all five were stone-faced at their arraignments last week, they smiled and nodded yesterday at the more than 30 friends and relatives that packed the courtroom.
"I love you all," Clivie Smith, 19, yelled out as he was led back to jail.
"We love you, too," replied his cheering section.
Gentles had more than a dozen teenage friends in the courtroom who apparently cut school to be there. They swore at reporters who tried to ask them questions. Scylestina Smith, mother of Cleve and Clivie, was kicked out of the courtroom after yelling curses at a woman who apparently stepped on someone's foot.
The defendants will appear again on Dec. 2. Even as she struggles to recover from terrible brain injuries at Lincoln Hospital, Vada has become a potent symbol of the innocent toll of guns on New York streets. Mayor Bloomberg invoked her name yesterday when he announced the bust up of a massive Florida-to-New York firearms trafficking ring.

The latest incidents, which occurred early Monday morning, bring to eight the number of café-bars targeted since Oct. 28. Like the other incidents, there was little damage to the premises, but a lot of rattled nerves.
The Café Nouba on St. Laurent Blvd. in the heart of Little Italy, and the Café Vegas on Rue Jean Talon east, were both hit with Molotov cocktails, one at 6:18 a.m., the other at 7 a.m. As with the other firebombing attempts, the windows were broken and the flaming device thrown inside, only to quickly go out.
The owner of Café Vegas, who would not identify himself, told La Presse that his café does not have a problematic history. "I got no warning, and before this morning, nothing ever happened here. I have no idea who did this. It's a simple café where people come to play ... and drink."
It's the second time the Café Nouba has been targeted, the first time being Nov. 15.
Police have arrested no suspects and say they're trying to determine if the fire bombings are related. Police have also entertained the possibility that it could be a street gang trying to fill a vacuum left by biker gangs and the Mob, who have been severely weakened by successive police operations in recent years.
The incidents have the eerie hallmarks of the destructive biker wars in the 1990s when reprisal attacks, including arson, were common

One person was killed and two wounded about 11:30 p.m. Thursday in a shooting outside a liquor store in the 3600 block of Santa Fe Avenue in Long Beach, according to city police spokeswoman Jackie Bezart. The murder is believed to be gang-related, and the victim’s identity is being withheld pending notification of his family.
[Updated at 11:28 p.m.: The victim was identified as 19-year-old Frank Castro Jr. of Long Beach. A man approached him and the two other victims on foot and shot all three of them. Castro was hit multiple times in the upper body and torso and pronounced dead at the scene. The two other victims, ages 18 and 40, were treated at a local hospital and released.]At about the same time, a driver in the 6400 block of Rosemead Boulevard in Pico Rivera saw a body in the street and called police, who found a Latino with gunshot wounds in the upper torso, said Dep. Aura Sierra of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The victim, whose identity is being withheld until his family is notified, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Set Free Soldiers where arrested for attempted murder after they allegedly got into a bar fight with the Hells Angels. Seven members of the biker gang remained in custody on $1 million bail after their arrest for allegedly stabbing two Hells angels. In what is mostly thought of as an upper middle class naborhood in Newport Beach California late last month. Three members of the Hells Angels were also arrested.

Jean Joseph Violette, 58, was sentenced in B.C. Supreme Court to four years in prison for being the ringleader in the beating of Glen Louie, who Violette believed had been using the Hells Angels name while dealing drugs on Squamish Nation reserve.Violette got an additional two years for weapons offences. In handing down the sentence, Justice Selwyn Romilly described the assault as "a particularly callous, vicious, brutal and unprovoked attack" on Louie, who had no opportunity to defend himself.Romilly said Violette used his power and status as a full patch member of the Hells Angels to inflict the beating and intimidation. He also noted that in wiretapped conversations after the beating, Violette showed a total lack of remorse."This type of hooliganism must be deterred," said the judge.
At the time of the beating, Louie was loosely associated with low-ranking members of the East End Chapter of the Hells Angels. A police informant who had infiltrated the chapter told the jury at Violette's trial Louie had visited the clubhouse and been seen with Hells Angels members. But Louie wasn't a member of the club.Violette later told the police informant Louie had been going to the native reserve in North Vancouver to deal drugs and had been using the Hells Angels name. Violette arranged a meeting in North Vancouver with someone from the reserve who said Louie had threatened him, using the Hells Angels name.Violette later told the police informant he wanted to send Louie a message.On Jan. 20, 2005, Violette and two lower-ranking members of the club -- including the police informant -- lured Louie to a road on Burnaby Mountain. When Louie got out of his vehicle, Violette began slapping, punching and kicking him.Sounds of the beating were captured by a secret listening device worn by the police informant. Violette cut the beating short after a passing driver saw them. At the end of the assault, Violette ordered Louie to hand in all of his Hells Angels paraphernalia before driving off, leaving Louie on the ground.
During the drive back, Violette told the two lower-ranking Hells Angels that Louie was lucky to still be walking.In a later wiretap between Louie and the lower-ranking club member who was present during the assault, Louie said the 12 days after the beating were among the toughest in his life, adding he was "pissin blood . . .'cause I got kicked."In sentencing Violette, Romilly said an aggravating factor was his "businesslike impersonal attitude toward this heinous crime."Violette was also sentenced to two years consecutive jail time for possessing a loaded Beretta semi-automatic pistol and a Ruger revolver -- seized along with a bulletproof vest from his home.The lower-ranking Hells Angels member involved in the beating -- Sal Jonathan Bryce Jr., who had previously been roommates with Louie -- was previously sentenced to three years in jail for his part in the extortion.




©

Estimates put the number of gang members in the Westside United Crips at 20 to 30 individuals, mostly juveniles. The gang is one of about 40 gangs that call Pueblo home. One of its suspected leaders, Louie Romero, also known as "Gooey," was arrested along with four other members of the gang near the end of October by a special task force. The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Gun Task Force is made up of two ATF agents and two Pueblo Police Department detectives. They work in conjunction with Pueblo Police Departments Gang and Narcotics units to infiltrate gangs, make arrests, and take guns and drugs off the streets. They've been doing this in Pueblo for 13 months, and they've been successful.With at least five arrests resulting in Federal charges, and each of them resulting in convictions, as well as several other arrests on state charges, the task force has been quietly busy. Now, as word has spread through Pueblo's gang world of their existence and very real presence, the task force is opening up about what they are doing in town.The Westside United Crips bust is just an example of the kind of work they're doing. Since April, undercover officers have purchased an SKS rifle, an AK-47 rifle and a stolen handgun. Crack cocaine was sold to the officers on several occasions, including one where an underage boy was allegedly told to sell the drugs to the officer by the gang leader.This disturbing trend is more often the rule, not the exception in Pueblo gangs. Authorities explain, older gang members use the juveniles to carry their drugs and weapons because if caught the child faces a more lenient punishment than adults would. It's a trend Pueblo Police Chief Jim Billings hopes to turn around. But to do so means the community must step up and work with the authorities. "Many times law enforcement and even school teachers are not getting involved in the problems until the mold has kinda been set; and that comes from kids who grow up in homes where maybe it's not the healthy lifestyle that we would all hope for, for our children," says Chief Billings.To give community members options on how to combat gangs in their own way, Chief Billings and Pueblo County Sheriff Kirk Taylor hosted a community meeting Tuesday night where after-school programs like the Boys and Girls Club were discussed. As for the ATF Gun Task Force; they spent the evening doing what they have done for 13 months. They, and dozens of other officers, worked the streets looking for opportunities to make Pueblo a safer town.

Ian Grant was eligible for accelerated day parole because he has served one-sixth of his first federal sentence for what are considered non-violent crimes. But the National Parole Board quickly rejected his bid earlier this month, according to documents obtained by the Winnipeg Free Press.“The board is satisfied there are reasonable grounds to believe that, if released, you are likely to commit an offence involving violence before the expiration of your sentence,” the board wrote.
Police arrested Grant and 12 other biker associates in February 2006 based on the work of career criminal Franco Atanasovic, who was paid $525,000 to infiltrate the Hells.Grant wasn’t even an original target when police began their investigation in early 2005, but he quickly came on the radar when he began extorting an old drug debt from Atanasovic. Police ended up giving their agent thousands of dollars to pay to Grant to buy him more time. Grant eventually sold two kilograms of cocaine and one kilo of crystal meth to Atanasovic, although he was never actually caught in the act. He used lower-level couriers to do his bidding, but jurors clearly accepted the agent’s word they were acting on Grant’s directions. More than $6,000 in marked police money used in the drug buys was found inside Grant’s safety deposit box, along with nearly $60,000 in other cash from drug proceeds.Grant insisted his crimes were not connected to his involvement with the Hells Angels. Grant was ordered at his sentencing hearing to pay a $118,000 fine, which is the amount he pocketed from three major drug deals he was caught doing. However, he recently chose to have an extra two years added to his overall sentence.The 17-year total penalty is one of the stiffest ever given for drug crimes in this province.

William Hynes and John Mangan were key figures in the organised crime group run by Martin 'Marlo' Hyland, who was shot dead in Finglas.
Two senior members of one of the country's biggest criminal gangs have been sentenced to 12 and 14 years in prison after they were caught overseeing the delivery of over €2m worth of drugs.Mangan was on bail when he was caught, so today's 14 year sentence is consecutive to another 14 years he was given last year for drug trafficking.Hynes also has a previous conviction for drug trafficking and was only out of jail one year when he was caught for this offence.The two are among 28 people targeted by the garda operation 'Oak' who have been brought before the courts.At the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court today Judge Pat McCartan congratulated the gardaí on the success of what he called 'a very carefully orchestrated undercover operation'.

Jason Brown, 35, and his girlfriend Terra George, 24, are facing numerous drug and weapons-related charges following a co-ordinated police raid on Brown's Aldergrove residence Nov. 12, but so far the two have not surrendered to police.The multi-jurisdictional bust took place in the 26900 block of 26A Avenue and nabbed a 9mm handgun, a loaded magazine, boxes of ammunition, $80,000 worth of cocaine, $12,000 in cash, body armour and an RS-logoed jacket along with one kilogram of methamphetamine valued at $25,000.George and Brown are charged with possession for the purpose of trafficking methamphetamine, possession for the purpose of trafficking cocaine, possession of a restricted weapon and the additional charge against Brown of possession of a firearm while prohibited.Brown has a 10-year-ban from owning a firearm following his arrest in a 2007 police biker investigation dubbed "E-Pandora," and was pegged as an associate of the Angels.He was convicted for conspiracy to commit an indictable offence at the time and given a four-year sentence.The Abbotsford Police Department, Langley RCMP, the Integrated Gang Task Force and the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Unit were all involved in the raid as Brown is "very well known" to police in several jurisdictions and has a long history of interaction with authorities for drugs, weapons and violence, according to APD Const. Ian MacDonald."This individual was probably on multiple radar screens," MacDonaldd said, adding that police intelligence indicated a seizure of this scope was indicative of a mid- to high-level gang operative.MacDonald said that Brown's arrest shows that the Scorpions are still active in the Fraser Valley and do not seem to be suffering any ill effects from the incarceration of high-profile members involved in the Surrey Six slayings

gang member who escaped from a Sunnyside jail in 2006 has been captured in Manzanillo, Mexico.The U.S. Marshals Service said Saturday that Aaron Lopez Garcia, 31, was arrested Friday at an ice cream factory by Colima State Police, assisted by U.S. Marshals.Garcia and three other inmates escaped from the Sunnyside city jail in November of 2006. Garcia's accomplices were captured soon afterwards. He was in jail for illegally possessing a firearm.Garcia is a member of the Nortenos gang with a long history of convictions, the Marshals Service said.He has been flown back to the U.S. to face charges.

Several people were arrested Friday after an alleged kidnapping and dispute about gang affiliations took place last month at Red Hawk Casino.The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said on Oct. 14, several Hispanic men and women confronted two white men and one woman at the casino and asked them if they were “Placerville Peckerwoods.”The group told the others that they weren’t part of a gang, the office said. Investigators said they didn’t find any gang ties to that group.Officials said one of the Hispanic men insulted the woman from the other group, and she got angry and attacked him. When one of the white men tried to break up the fight, deputies said he was punched and hit with a beer bottle.As casino security guards broke up the fight, some members of the Hispanic group went to an elevator and grabbed a woman who wasn’t involved in the fight, officials said.According to the sheriff’s office, the group “told the victim that she was going to get them out of the casino (using her vehicle) and they would let her go once they were at the freeway.”
Once inside the parking garage, the woman got away and contacted casino security.
She escaped without injury.Detectives from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office said they identified six Hispanic men on security cameras who were involved in the kidnapping as known gang members.Arrest and search warrants were obtained, and several law enforcement agencies arrested five people who were allegedly involved in the incident.On Friday, officials arrested Jesse Madrigal, Steven Santiago, Ricky Mora, Stephen Lizotte of Riverbank, and Ernie Lizotte of Riverbank.Officials said several guns, gang indicia, ecstasy, marijuana and a large amount of money were seized in the investigation.Lt. Bryan Golmitz said gang activity at the casino is rare.

Salisbury police investigators believe Height associates with West Main Chain Gang members and its affiliates and that the bus and cafeteria fights were part of an "ongoing gang war" between two rival gangs in the city: Bloods and Crips. Police allege the planned shooting by Heist was 48 assaults in Wicomico County public schools this school year, according to the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office. Last year there were 259 assaults and one firearm incident.About seven hours before the bus left Thursday, several students were involved in a fight in the school cafeteria. By the afternoon, a sheriff's deputy learned the fight wasn't going to stop with the cafeteria brawl and informed city police that bus No. 70 was going to be "shot up" in the Delaware Avenue and West Main Street area by the same males who seized the bus and assaulted a student, according to court documents.By 3:30 p.m., two city officers were on a stakeout close to a convenience store located near the area where the shooting was supposed to occur when they saw the two males. One fled when the officers approached him. The .22-caliber handgun in his waistband could be seen while he was running, according to officers.After tackling and struggling with the suspect, the officers were able to take him into custody. Police charged Damien Maurice Height, 18, of the 800 block of Booth Street with assault, disorderly conduct and two handgun violations."This is another handgun that we were able to get off the streets that's not out there now," said Cpt. Mark Tyler, head of the Salisbury Police Department Criminal Investigation Division.

Hells Angels, converged on the scene as paramedics tended to the injured 45-year-old man and his 46-year-old female pillion passenger. The pair, both from Craigieburn, were travelling north along La Trobe Tce at the intersection of Roebuck St in Geelong just after 4pm, when witnesses say the man was catapulted above the height of the purple Honda, which was heading east through the intersection. It is believed the pair had been travelling as part of a motorcycle club convoy around the bay when the crash occurred. Both were rushed to Geelong Hospital, where the man was last night in a serious but stable condition, while the woman was considered stable. The elderly female driver of the other vehicle appeared to walk away unscathed. About two dozen motorcycle gang members, including members from the Iron Horsemen, Vigilantes and Hells Angels, were beside the road consoling one another at the scene after the incident. Several held vigil outside Geelong Hospital last night. A police spokesperson could not confirm if the pair were members of a motorcycle gang. Witnesses told the Geelong Advertiser part of a larger convoy of riders had successfully made it through the intersection before the crash.
"I noticed a few bikies went through before the change (of lights)," one witness, who was stopped at the intersection travelling southbound, said.
"One body flew up in the air a bit above the height of the car and another one went on the ground. The first guy didn't look like he was moving and the second one looked like they just clipped it."
The Honda had a broken window and damage to the driver's side, while the motorbike, with a mangled front wheel, was towed away by a private vehicle after being lifted into a trailer by several club members. The accident blocked northbound traffic along La Trobe Tce, which was diverted along Myers St for more than 15 minutes, while ambulance officers stabilised the two riders and firefighters dusted the road with dirt to soak up oil spilled from the accident.

25 members and associates of the South End-based Original Gangsta Killas were charged Thursday with a vicious crime spree of drug dealing, robbery and gang violence dating back to 2000. Federal prosecutors in Albany say the gang -- known commonly as OGK -- not only protected its "downtown" turf from rivals with bullets, but brazenly posted not-so-subtle messages on the Internet through compact discs, videotapes and DVDs. Gang members even allegedly produced a rap video like their fierce "uptown" rivals, the Jungle Junkies street gang, whose leadership was toppled in a similar racketeering case in 2006. Having successfully prosecuted that case, federal authorities are hoping for similar success against OGK. They allege at least 14 shooting incidents, four robberies and a stabbing across Albany in a period spanning from May 2001 to March 2009. The alleged drug dealing, which included marijuana, crack cocaine and heroin, dated back a year earlier. "I think the citizens of Albany can rest a lot easier knowing that they're a lot safer in their neighborhoods," James Burns, the assistant special agent-in-charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency in Albany, told reporters inside the James T. Foley U.S. Courthouse. Fourteen defendants were rounded up starting at 6 a.m. in raids involving 10 law enforcement agencies. Another remained a fugitive, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Hartunian, chief of the office's Organized Crime Task Force. He said investigators recovered crack cocaine, .22 caliber ammunition and gang-related clothing, CDs and DVDs during the raids. The indictment said OGK, formerly known as the "Black Gangstas," has also called itself the "Orange Gambino Killas." The probe had dated back more than two years, authorities said. Authorities identified 23 of the defendants as OGK gang members. Most hailed from Albany, but 23-year-old Owen Furthman, also known as "Diz," was listed as living on quiet Barker Street in Colonie. Elijah "Sleezy" Cancer, 23, meanwhile, was listed as living in a dorm at the state University at Oneonta. Also on the list was one woman, Michele Knickerbocker, 43, of Albany. Many of the defendants have been shot over the years and have strong ties to Albany's turf war between "downtown" and the "uptown" gangs.
Two of the defendants, for instance, are Nahmel "Kidco" Stratton, 27, and Nakeem "Little Bay" Stratton, 24, both incarcerated. The latter has been identified as the older brother of the "uptown's" Nahjaliek McCall, who was convicted of murdering "downtown's" 15-year-old Shahied Oliver at an Arbor Hill birthday party in August 2007. Another defendant, Marcel "Juxx" Perry, 22, was previously shot in a case in which Oliver was accused of felony assault.

Michael W. Fraser,biker killed in a crash Wednesday had been a member of the Ghost Riders motorcycle gang and served time in prison for killing two people.Michael W. Fraser, 51, died when his bike slid more than 200 feet into an oncoming car on North Market Street, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.Fraser was southbound on Market when he tried to pass another vehicle in a no-pass zone just south of Hawthorne Road about 5:15 p.m., according to a news release.He lost control of his 1985 rebuilt motorcycle and tipped over, hitting a 1994 Mercury Sable driven by a Mead man who had braked “to almost a complete stop,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
“The motorcycle went under the front of the Sable, trapping its rider beneath the car and killing him almost instantly,” according to the news release. The Sable’s driver was not injured.Deputies said Fraser was traveling about 70 mph in the 45 mph zone.Fraser, whose nickname among fellow bikers was Herpes, spent several years on the lam after the 1982 shooting death of Ben S. Lawson, 32, at the old Red Robin tavern on North Monroe Street, according to news archives. He was captured in 1989 and spent a year in prison on a second-degree manslaughter conviction before being paroled, according to the state Corrections Department.
News articles say he also was named as one of 11 defendants in a 1983 arson murder of a Wisconsin woman, for which Ghost Rider leader Al Hegge and three others were convicted in 1985. Hegge is serving life in prison for murdering a Spokane police officer in 1983.Fraser returned to prison in 1992 after a customer was shot twice in the back and killed during a barroom brawl in Arlington, Wash., with several other members of the Ghost Riders, according to a 1996 Seattle Times article. Fraser was convicted of second-degree murder and released in 2005, state records show. He was not on probation.Sgt. Dave Reagan said Fraser was still affiliated with an outlaw motorcycle gang but declined to say which one.

Marco Antonio Perez, 16, was prosecuted as an adult and sentenced to 50 years to life in prison, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Two other gang members have already been sentenced to multiple life sentences for their roles in the shootings; three others are awaiting trial.The shootings happened in 2006, when Perez was 14 years old. According to prosecutors, he took his father’s car and drove with the others into a rival gang neighborhood in Santa Ana, looking for rivals to kill.They found three, ages 14, 15 and 16.They shot the 14-year-old and the 15-year-old in the head, execution style, according to the District Attorney’s statement. They shot the 16-year-old in the stomach, leaving him in a coma. He survived after undergoing seven surgeries.A jury in June found Perez guilty of two felony counts of special-circumstances murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang, one felony count of attempted murder and one felony count of street terrorism. The jury also added sentencing enhancements for criminal street gang activity and the vicarious discharge of a firearm as a gang member causing death and bodily injury.Two co-defendants, Norberto Hernandez, 24, and Angel Garcia, 21, were convicted earlier this year on similar charges; Hernandez was also found guilty of one felony count of assault with a firearm.Hernandez was sentenced to two life sentences in state prison without the possibility of parole plus an additional 93 years to life. Garcia was sentenced to two life sentences without parole plus an additional 50 years to life.Three other co-defendants, all of them juveniles at the time of the crimes but being prosecuted as adults, are scheduled to go to trial early next year. Juan Roldan, 19, and Oiram Roman Ayala, 20, both face the same charges as Hernandez. Prospero Guadarrama, 19, faces the same charges as Perez.
The District Attorney’s Office alleges that Hernandez, Roldan and Ayala also walked into rival gang territory two days before the deadly shooting and confronted members of another gang. The two groups began shooting at each other, and a 47-year-old street vendor who was selling corn from a cart was caught in the crossfire.The vendor was hit in the back and paralyzed from the waist down.

Billy Joe Johnson, 46,was convicted of murder for luring his childhood friend, Scott Miller, to his death on March 8, 2002, months after Miller gave what he thought was an anonymous interview on Fox11 News about the gang. Miller was gunned down outside an Anaheim apartment complex after he left a party. killed a fellow white supremacist gang member for revealing secrets about the gang should be sentenced to death, a jury recommended Thursday. A judge will decide whether to accept the jury's recommendation. Johnson is already serving a life term for the 2004 slaying of Cory Lamons in Huntington Beach with a claw hammer. Johnson, with his Mohawk-style hair combed down, smiled, chuckled and whispered to his attorney, Michael Molfetta, when the verdict was read. Johnson testified Tuesday that he wanted to be sent to Death Row because he believed it would be a less-restrictive confinement. The four women and eight men on the jury took about two-and-a-half hours to decide Johnson deserves the ultimate punishment, jury foreman John Pearson of Santa Ana said. The jury first voted 11-1 for death, with the holdout saying if Johnson wanted to be put on death row, why give it to him? After the jury went over the evidence again, they convinced the juror to change his mind, Pearson said. Molfetta argued that Johnson's life in prison, dependency on drugs and a rough childhood in Costa Mesa contributed to his downfall. But Pearson said the jury felt Johnson's lengthy rap sheet outweighed all that.
Johnson, when he took the stand Tuesday, admitted to killing two other men, one while in custody and another while free. Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said authorities might be interested in learning more about those slayings so they can close the books on them, but there's "zero chance" he would be prosecuted for them since he will probably be sentenced to death. "I felt he was self-absorbed" and didn't respect the judicial process, Pearson said. "I don't think he cared personally one way or the other." Johnson, throughout the trial, often leaned in to Molfetta to whisper asides and laugh. Molfetta said Johnson has attention-deficit disorder and that he tried to go along with some of the antics to keep him as calm as possible even though he found it difficult to concentrate.

"Trust me, I know who is sitting alongside me," he said, acknowledging Johnson's violent past.