"The Mexican Mafia is a violent criminal gang. They deal in intimidation. They deal in drugs — heroin and cocaine. They deal in violence, and in this case, they dealt in murder," he said. The slayings go back to 2000 and occurred in San Antonio, Austin and Atascosa County, a rural county south of San Antonio. Most were unsolved before the racketeering charges, said Sutton. The victims were mostly members of the Mexican Mafia or rival gangs. In some cases, they were suspected drug dealers indebted to the Mexican Mafia, which authorities say enforces a street tax on drug dealers who work on gang turf. The defendants were not charged with murder, in part because tying them to a specific crime is harder than proving they ran an operation that committed murder and dealt drugs, Sutton said. Conviction under federal racketeering charges can bring a term of life in prison. Most of the defendants were already in custody on lesser charges before the Tuesday grand jury indictment, which...