Raul Rojas, a Los Angeles gang member who became a world boxing champion in 1968, has died. He was 70. His daughter, Rebecca, tells the Los Angeles Times ( http://lat.ms/KmsSdd) that Rojas died Sunday of natural causes. Rojas grew up in Watts and East Los Angeles. Two of his brothers went to prison. According to a 1968 Sports Illustrated article, Rojas led a street gang and wound up in juvenile hall after a battle during which a fellow gangster was shot to death next to him. Rojas turned to boxing and in 1968 he defeated Enrique Higgins to win the World Boxing Association featherweight belt. He surrendered it six months later. He ended his career in 1970 with a record of 38-7-2 with 24 knockouts. He later worked as a longshoreman.
William (Billy) Bowden pleaded guilty in a Winnipeg courtroom today to carrying a firearm in a careless manner in January 2007
William (Billy) Bowden, 33, pleaded guilty in a Winnipeg courtroom today to carrying a firearm in a careless manner in January 2007 and skipping out on his preliminary hearing about a year later. Other drug and weapons charges related to the 2007 incident were stayed as part of a plea bargain securing the two convictions. Bowden remains in custody though, charged with manslaughter in relation to the November 2007 killing of Jeff Engen, who was fatally stabbed at the Empire Cabaret, prompting the club to close. That charge remains before the courts. Bowden has been in custody since he was arrested Feb. 14 in Whistler, B.C., and returned to Manitoba. The Crown and defence jointly recommended that time be noted in his sentence for carrying the firearm. That crime occurred around 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 20, 2007, as Bowden was leaving the NV lounge in a truck with friend Ken Houston, court heard. Police discovered a Glock 9mm handgun loaded with 18 bullets in a pile of garbage close to where the...
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