Appeals court upholds convictions in murder plot

A state appeals court today upheld the convictions of three Pomona gang members serving life prison sentences for their participation in a murder plot.

Julio Ponce Felix Jr., 38, Arthur Garcia, 40, and Ricardo Polanco, 28, were each convicted of of plotting to kill Frankie Buelna in Pomona in 2005.

According to prosecutors, the men plotted to kill Buelna, a Mexican Mafia member, because he was imposing excessive gang "taxes."

Authorities built a case against the defendants by monitoring their phone conversations through wiretaps. The men were arrested in 2005 before they could carry out the hit on Buelna.

The defendants argued on appeal that prosecutors presented insufficient evidence to support the guilty verdicts reached by juries.

A three-judge panel of the state's Second Appellate District disagreed, ruling that there was sufficient evidence for the convictions.

Buelna, 61, was killed in November 2007 at the Characters bar in downtown Pomona. The case remains unsolved.