Florencia 13 street gang were convicted of federal charges, including racketeering, drug trafficking and attempted murder.

10 members and associates of the Florencia 13 street gang were convicted Monday of a host of federal charges, including racketeering, drug trafficking and attempted murder.The verdicts followed a 3 1/2 -month trial in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana in which prosecutors told jurors of a widespread criminal enterprise directed by Mexican Mafia members, both on the street and in prison.The gang controlled drug distribution in unincorporated areas south of Los Angeles and in Huntington Park and collected "rent" from people who wanted to commit crimes in the area it claimed, according to prosecutors. The gang drew wide notoriety for allegedly shooting indiscriminately at African Americans who went into the neighborhoods in which it operated.The defendants convicted Monday are among 102 gang members charged in four related indictments that stemmed from an investigation dubbed "Operation Joker's Wild."To date, 76 of the defendants have either pleaded guilty or been convicted at trial. Those convicted Monday are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 9 by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter.

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Timothy “Fuzzy” Timms, a 45-year-old member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle club, stood up Monday for his First Amendment right to freedom of expressi

Timothy “Fuzzy” Timms, a 45-year-old member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle club, stood up Monday for his First Amendment right to freedom of expression. Timms, a resident of the San Diego community of South Park, refused to take off a black leather vest with the motorcycle club's “death's head” insignia when he reported for jury duty. He's a big burly man, 5 feet 8 inches, 250 pounds, with a full beard and auburn-colored, shoulder-length hair. At 7:45 a.m., Timms' stance got him booted from the San Diego Superior Court's Hall of Justice by sheriff's deputies, along with another Hells Angel who also refused to remove his insignia vest. Nine hours later, representatives of both the Superior Court and the sheriff's department apologized to Timms and club member Mick Rush for “misunderstanding” an order issued April 24 by Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser. Rush also had been reporting for jury duty. “It all boils down to a misunderstanding of Judge Fraser'

LaAunzae was a Vice Lord, and Donald Ragland was a Gangster Disciple

2005 execution-style murder in Frayser was a case marked by "gangs, guns and death." And not incidentally, they added, there was an element of revenge when defendant Donald Ragland Jr. shot 26-year-old LaAunzae Grady three times in the back on a cold December afternoon outside of St. Elmo's Market."He didn't have a problem taking this job, because LaAunzae had killed his brother five or six years before this," gang unit prosecutor Ray Lepone told a Criminal Court jury. "LaAunzae was a Vice Lord, and Donald Ragland was a Gangster Disciple."Asst. Public Defender Trent Hall said prosecutors would not be able to prove their case and asked jurors to acquit Ragland, 27, of first-degree murder.On Wednesday, jurors watched a surveillance video from the store that showed an apparently nervous Grady looking out the front door of the store several times before finally leaving.A half-dozen loud gunshots then quickly follow, though the shooting on the outside p

William Crompton Maclean, was a Hells Angels associate who was riding in a procession of Hells Angels when he was shot to death.

Jessica Andrea Gordon, 20, pleaded not guilty to charges of being an accessory after the fact, one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle, one count of permitting another person to shoot from a vehicle, and two counts of possessing Ecstasy and cocaine.The alleged gunman, 20-year-old Joseph Andrew Farnsworth of El Cerrito, also appeared in court Wednesday seeking an opportunity to post bail. Farnsworth has been held without bail since his arrest, and his attorneys asked Judge Kelly Simmons to set his bail at $500,000, citing his family ties in the East Bay. Simmons set the bail at $2 million, and Farnsworth remained in custody Wednesday. Farnsworth has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, one count of shooting a firearm from a vehicle and one count of shooting at an occupied vehicle. Gordon, who is free on bail, was ushered in and out of court through a side door because of the intense security concerns surrounding the case. Sheriff's officials have taken extra safety precauti

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