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A La Puente woman, accused of running day-to-day activities for the Mexican Mafia while her husband was in Pelican Bay, pleaded not guilty today to charges stemming from an alleged gang murder plot.

Maria Llantada, 44, and nine associates entered pleas in the case today. They were named in a grand jury indictment handed up June 13. All ten defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit murder.

The conspiracy charges involve two men who were "targeted," according to the
indictment.

Those indicted include Maria Llantada, 44, of La Puente, whom authorities said last year ran the gang's street activities in parts of La Puente, Norwalk and some surrounding areas.

Also named in the indictment are: Doreen Padilla, 25; David Sahagun, 26; Yvonne
Montes, 31; George Bravo, 40; Renee Lopez, 21; Ernesto Roacho Jr., 20; Angelita
Martinez, 37; Danna Stover, 33; and Antonio Palacios, 66.

The one-man Azusa crime wave known as Ralph  "Swifty" Flores, 26, received the death penalty Tuesday, as Tribune night guy Brian Day reported:

Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee, who prosecuted the case along with Deputy District Attorney Ian Phan, said Flores deserves to be put to death, "Because he smirks when he plans to kill people, he laughs when he does it, and he brags about it afterward. That's what the evidence showed."

She added that Flores has shown no compunction for his crimes, as he demonstrated by assaulting a sheriff's deputy before the trial began and ordering a "hit" on a deputy during the jury selection process.

Flores sat silently and motionless as the verdict was read, Hanisee said. He showed no reaction at all, she added.

Defense attorney Pierpont M. Laidley said he believes negative feeling toward gang members in general caused jurors to overlook problems in the prosecutions case. "That's why I feel my guy was lynched," he said.

Los Angeles Times' EME expert Sam Quinones extensively covered the trial and put some context in his story about the significance of the sentence and the effect of Flores' crime wave on Azusa politics. Quinones also notes the connection between Azusa 13 and Jacques Padilla, an Azusa emero who's been in the news lately. Here's a snippet from the Times:

For Azusa, the case marks the end to a violent chapter in which a handful of gang members called the "trigger clique" terrorized the town with a series of shootings, killings, robberies and hate crimes targeting blacks.

Their rampage lasted from 1999 to 2004.

Besides Flores, seven other Azusa 13 gang members were convicted of the crimes and sentenced to lengthy prison terms -- five of them in one 2004 trial.

"It was a violent time for the city," said Sgt. Mike Bertelsen, Azusa's gang expert. "We were having a murder a month at the end of 2002."

What brought this violent period to an end "was a combination of citizens, the clergy, City Council and police all working together," said City Manager Francis Delach. "I think that had a big impact."

Azusa's experience shows how a few gang members following directives from the Mexican Mafia prison gang can become a public policy issue, scaring residents while taxing the budget and police resources of an otherwise peaceful town.

 

 

 

 

Fred Ortega's piece on the history and influence of La Eme is now online. Here's an excerpt from the bottom of the story:  The SGVN's online look at gangs is here.

The (Lola) Llantada case is only the latest example of the influence that the Eme wields in the San Gabriel Valley.

In April 2006, four men were arrested in Pomona in connection with an attempted Mexican Mafia contract killing. Their trial is scheduled for this year.

Last November, reputed Emero Frank "Frankie B" Buelna, 61, was shot to death in a Pomona sports bar. Buelna was reputed to have broad power within the Mexican Mafia, and officials are still investigating the motive behind his killing. The perpetrators are still at large.

And in December, reputed Eme member Eulalio "Lalo" Martinez, 46, was charged with ordering the killing of former gang member Donald "Pato" Schubert in Rosemead in 1998. In that case, prosecutors allege that Martinez runs the Lomas Rosemead street gang from Pelican Bay State Prison, where he has been incarcerated for the past 15 years.

La Eme's deep roots in the San Gabriel Valley became clearly evident to Steinwand, the sheriff's homicide investigator, when he moved to the Industry Station from the South Central Los Angeles area early in his career.

"Over there in South Central when there were orders from the Eme to stop drive-bys, guys would go out and do five of them in one night just to spite them," said Steinwand, who has been a detective for 18 years. "But they have a lot more control on this side of the 710 (Freeway).

"When I came to work at the Industry Station, it was amazing," he added. "When the Eme said something, (the gangs) listened."

 

Some of this information surfaced during the investigation of Robert Whitehead's killing. Whitehead was killed after confronting taggers near his parents home. Among those suspected in the case was Paul "Malo" Salazar, a graduate of Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, who was also a suspected member of Puente Trece.

Salazar was killed at his home during a get-together in July.

Interesting side note, Whitehead's brother is a Monrovia police officer. 

Some interesting notes that we will be developing throughout the day:

1. There some belief that Jose Garcia, the convicted killer of Deputy David March apparently lived in the apartment complex where Sammantha Salas was shot. It makes sense as it is only a short drive between there and the spot on Live Oak where March was murdered.

2. Who owns the apartment complex? What is their relationship with local authorities?

3. According to Rob Hammond, meetings between Monrovia officials, Duarte officials, police and sheriff's department and the school districts took place yesterday. What happened?

4. The condition of Sammantha Salas friend who was also shot Saturday night.

5. Your continued thoughts on the state of affairs and the ongoing racially motivated gang war in Monrovia.

By the Way I plan to keep this at the top of the page today so that commenting here will be easy for new readers

First a letter, then some comments. It's all coming together now on Editor's Corner.

The gist of it is that Ralph "Perrico" Rocha, who did time in the Federal Eme case, is ruffling some feathers now that he's returned to civilian life in the SGV.

Apparently the case unveiled today involves six members of a criminal gang involved in a conspiracy to murder. Wiretaps were used to make the case.

The target was Rafael Gonzalez Munoz Jr. AKA Cisco noted as an Emero in the charging documents.

Named in the case are David Sahagun , Yvonne Colleen Montes, George Bravo, Anthony Palacios, Angelita Martinez.

They discussed meeting their victim at Margarita Jones in West Covina....

Another wiretap in the case took place at 307 south Vermont in Glendora.

More TK

some in the case are related to Jacques Padilla,  a man named by the cops as an Emero.  Another potential victim maybe in protective custody at Cochrane state prison. 

5:26 p.m. update. There is some confusion about Mr. Padilla's nickname. We deleted it from the post.

5:29 p.m. update, sheriff's used the nickname "Jocko"  when referring to Mr. Padilla.

Visits by sheriff's homicide detectives to Soledad Prison during their investigation of the March 2006 Robert Whitehead murder in West Valinda apparently opened up a whole can of worms for LA Eme.

We dont' know the full reach of this but it sounds like it may be fairly extensive. Press conference on the deal at 11 a.m.

 UPDATE:

Here's the sheriff's press release:

District Attorney Steve Cooley, Supervisor Gloria Molina, Sheriff’s Chief Richard Castro and other top sheriff’s officials, will announce the arrests of numerous members of a street gang.
The arrests were made during the service of search warrants by a multi- agency task
force.