GANGLAND 2

Montreal police are trying to stop the reopening of a firebombed bar in the city's east end, claiming it would be a risk to public security.

Café Ferrari manager Vincenzo Padula has asked the provincial liquor board to reinstate his alcohol license which was revoked after a series of violent attacks at his establishment.

During hearings held this week, police representatives testified they believe the bar was involved in a drug-trafficking network tied to street gangs in the region.


Montreal Sgt.-Det. Jean-Claude Gauthier told the board he believes street gang members preyed on the bar in an ongoing turf war to control the local drug trade.

The Rivière-des-Prairies bar was firebombed in November 2009.

It has since been attacked several times, including during a gunfire incident in May 2010.

Authorities shut down the café last summer, after police requested an emergency hearing at the provincial liquor board.

Gauthier testified his gang sources told him they are after Padula because of bad business dealings.

Police wouldn't say whether Padula is under investigation, but insisted that public safety would be jeopardized if the bar were to open again.

The liquor board hearings continue until Thursday.

Long tranquil in recent years as bloodshed flooded other swaths of Mexico in recent years, the lands bordering far South Texas have exploded as the Zetas commanded by El Lazca — Heriberto Lazcano — battle the Gulf Cartel.
The Mexican towns near Falcon Lake have become battlefields as the two groups war for smuggling routes into Texas. Searching for new sources of revenue, the Zetas have branched into kidnapping, extortion and robbery. In some towns near Falcon, nearly everyone has fled.
U.S. anglers all but evaporated from Falcon last October following the reported murder of a Colorado man, David Hartley, who crossed the lake on jet skis with his wife to tour the half-submerged town of Guerrero on the Mexican bank.
Hartley, his wife told police, was shot in the head by armed thugs who swarmed the couple in boats. The attack followed reports last spring of Mexican "pirates" assaulting U.S. fishermen.
Increased security
Hartley's body never has been recovered. Local and Texas state officials point to the attack as proof that Mexico's gangland wars, which have killed more than 35,000 people over the last four years, threaten to cross the border.
"I have to inform the public about what's happening," said Sheriff Sigifrido Gonzalez Jr. of Zapata County, who has placed widely ignored signs at boat ramps warning U.S. anglers of the dangers of fishing in Mexican waters.
Reacting both to Hartley's presumed murder and gangland battles in nearby towns, hundreds of Mexican soldiers and marines have poured into the Falcon Lake area. Mexican military helicopters frequently patrol the area. Authorities on the U.S. side have beefed up their presence as well.
The added security has brought a wary calm, at least to the Texas shore. Local fishing guides and tackle shops say business has returned almost to normal in recent weeks. Bass boats towed by pickup trucks and SUVs clog the parking lots of Zapata's hotels and restaurants.
"We've seen a number of boaters back in town. There are calls coming in," said Celia Balderas, an official with the Zapata County Chamber of Commerce, which is sponsoring fishing tournaments this spring. "Protection is the greatest it's ever been on Falcon Lake."
Deserted streets
But that security is far less assured across the lake.
The Mexican army killed three alleged gangsters Thursday near Nueva Ciudad Guerrero, near Falcon Lake's dam. And soldiers last week seized five tons of marijuana in Miguel Aleman, a town across the Rio Grande from the Texas town of Roma, 40 miles south of Zapata.
Many of the 6,000 residents who fled Zetas attacks last year in Ciudad Mier, a few miles outside Miguel Aleman, have yet to return despite the deployment of Mexican troops. The streets of the 258-year-old town remain deserted, most shops shuttered.
The Zetas continue to raid Mier, some residents say, coming with the dark after the soldiers withdraw. Three men were kidnapped three weeks ago, one left dead on the outskirts of town, the others still missing.
"Why isn't there protection for all of us? I don't know," said Mayor Alberto Gonzalez, 64, who took office Jan. 1. "But people are coming back little by little. Their land is here. They have to come back sooner or later."
The mayor said he expects Mier to be completely pacified once the army provides the promised battalion-strength base this spring.

federal law enforcement agency responsible for the investigation that led to charges being brought against a powerful South Side street gang is asking for the public's help in capturing five fugitives that remain at large.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives released the photos of the five men that were part of the 42-count indictment in which 24 members, associates and leaders of the street gang LSP were charged.

Wanted are: Rashan Bell, 34; Carlton Council Jr., 28; Aldric Jones, 20; Michael Jones, 26; and Terrence Machen Jr., 19.

"These fugitives are considered armed and dangerous, therefore, no member of the public should attempt to apprehend the fugitives, call police," a news release from the ATF said.

Federal prosecutors allege that the gang controlled drug trafficking, shot at rival gang members and attempted to kill an informant during the last eight years.

Among those charged last week by the U.S. Attorney's Northern Ohio, Eastern District office, were the top two members of the gang, who kept their reign by controlling the sale of crack cocaine in the city and in Boardman, the indictment states.

ATF, U.S. Marshals and Youngstown police apprehended several of the men during raids early Thursday.

The indictment said the LSP gang, which stands for Laclede, Sherwood and Parkview and Princeton avenues, the streets at the heart of the gang's territory, controlled drug trafficking and enhanced and protected their gang's power through violence.

Among the criminal acts described in the indictment are murder, robbery, witness tampering, retaliation and drug trafficking, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, felonious assault, aggravated menacing, firearms trafficking, theft, receiving stolen property, car jacking, breaking and entering, and burglary

Among those charged in the conspiracy were Daquann Hackett and Derrick Johnson Jr., who federal prosecutors believe are LSP's leaders and directed other members and associates of the gang.

Also charged were James Neail, Tyrell Oliver and Nalemn Hasley, who authorities believe sold drugs to Hackett, who then sold the drugs to LSP members and associates. In exchange for doing business with the trio, LSP members committed acts of violence against the trio's rivals from them.

LSP's territory includes a multi-block area on the South Side, the indictment says. The borders are West Laclede Avenue to the north, Rosedale Avenue to the East, West Indianola to the South and Volney Road to the West.

Gang members, the indictment said, regularly armed themselves with guns to protect their territory, attack and retaliate against rival gangs, people who wouldn't support the gang, to commit robberies, and build "respect" and "street credibility" in the gang and in the community.

LSP also used graffiti, tattoos and MySpace web pages to announce their gang affiliation and presence.

The indictment alleges the gang also feuded with the Circle Boyz, Tunnel Boyz, Brook Boys and Dale Boys street gangs

sentenced Daniel Flores, an Oxnard gang member, to life without parole for the February 2008 murder of Armando Sepulveda, prompting Flores' lawyer to immediately file a notice of appeal.

Last month, a jury found Flores guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder for shooting and wounding a father and son from El Rio in an incident a month before the Sepulveda shooting. Jurors found true that these crimes were done for the benefit of a criminal gang and that a weapon was used.

Ventura County Superior Court Judge Patricia Murphy also sentenced Flores, 24, to the maximum sentence prescribed by law for the two attempted murders, 75 years to life. The judge gave Flores a 38-year sentence for the special allegations that he was a gang member and used a weapon in the commission of a crime.

Flores and two other Colonia Chiques gang members, Brandon Arauz and Jose Velasquez, spotted Sepulveda in front of his house using his cellphone on Feb. 4, 2008, court testimony showed. Flores and Arauz, who were dressed in El Rio gang attire, stopped the car three houses away and walked toward Sepulveda. Prosecutors said Flores introduced himself to Sepulveda as an El Rio gang member before Sepulveda was shot by Arauz.

Arauz was not charged with the murder, but is in prison for 64 years to life on two other unrelated shootings. Velasquez's trial is pending.

Prosecutor Rameen Minoui said in an interview that Flores is a very serious threat and danger to society, adding that the lengthy prison sentences mean he will no longer be able to inflict harm or cause further pain to the victims' families. Minoui said Sepulveda wasn't a gang member and Flores, Velasquez and Arauz didn't know anyone in the Sepulveda family.

Flores' lawyers Jay Tanenbaum and Matthew Selmer said they filed a notice of appeal Monday alleging that a jailhouse informant secretly recorded conversations with their client and Velasquez.

Flores bragged to a jailhouse confidential informant, who said he was associated with the Mexican Mafia, about killing Sepulveda and shooting two other people, according to the recordings played to jurors. Flores denied to the informant that the two shootings were drive-by shootings.

The Mexican Mafia issued an edict to Southern California street gangs against drive-by shootings because innocent people sometimes get killed, resulting in police crackdowns that disrupt its drug trafficking, according to law enforcement.

Tanenbaum said Flores said all these things to the informant because he was afraid Mexican Mafia members would kill him if they believed he participated in drive-by shootings.

Selmer said the informant has earned $250,000 from the FBI and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and $25,000 from the Ventura County Sheriff's Department for secretly recording jail conversations with defendants.

Selmer said the informant is simply an arm of law enforcement who also has worked off a total of 15 years from his jail sentences.