They operate with the efficiency and structure of a large corporation, with orders flowing down from the top, an employee handbook of rules to follow and a disciplinary system for those who violate the organization’s standards.
But the real business of the Almighty Latin Kings is violence, federal authorities say.
In announcing sweeping federal indictments against some of the street gang’s top regional leaders Tuesday, prosecutors alleged the gang employs brutal means to protect its turf, including beatings, murder, arson and even the attempted murder of a suburban cop who was suspected of working for the FBI.
The charges, which name more than four dozen alleged gang members in Indiana and the Chicago area, also detail how the Latin Kings organization enforces discipline within its own ranks and retaliates against rivals and former members to prevent cooperation with law enforcement.
“Gang violence, gun violence, senseless violence, the type of violence that plagues our communities, our neighborhoods, in Chicago and beyond,” U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon told reporters at a news conference at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. “The scope is breathtaking.”
The indictments unsealed Tuesday in Chicago charged 34 alleged members of the Latin Kings with racketeering conspiracy, including several “regional enforcers” responsible for keeping gang members in line, as well as high-ranking members known as “Incas,” who oversee members, and their seconds in command, called “Caciques.” Another two alleged members were charged with lesser weapons charges.
In addition, superseding charges brought in federal court in Hammond accuse an additional 17 alleged Latin King members of everything from sex trafficking and gunrunning to two previously unsolved slayings, court records show.
Federal and local law enforcement began making arrests earlier this week. As of Tuesday afternoon, 33 out of the 36 defendants charged in the Chicago cases were in custody and will be making their initial court appearances in the coming days, according to U.S. attorney’s office spokesman Joseph Fitzpatrick.
The arrests were the culmination of a three-year investigation and come as Chicago’s epidemic of gun violence continues to spike to levels not seen since the late 1990s.
Fardon, who has made curbing violence one of his top priorities since taking office in 2013, said Tuesday that while bringing big gang cases is “not by itself” a long-term solution to the violence problem, it’s an important tool to get “alleged killers and shooters off the streets.
“I think it is a major setback for the Latin King nation operating in this region,” Fardon said. “I can’t quantify how that looks from their perspective, but when you charge multiple Incas and treasurers and enforcers and Caciques, that is going to be disruptive for these organizations.”
Founded in Chicago in the 1950s, the Latin Kings in many ways are a throwback to an era when gangs were led by unchallenged leaders who ruled over large swaths of territory, controlling criminal enterprises and driving violence.
Today, many street gangs in the Chicago area have splintered into less-organized factions often controlling just a few blocks, and shootings are as likely to stem from personal slights as official gang business or drug turf disputes, experts say. Adding to the turmoil, gang factions are more active on social media, using hashtags and instant messages to threaten and challenge each other, keeping the level of animosity constant and elevated.
The indictments unsealed Tuesday show the Latin Kings have managed to maintain their organizational structure despite a series of major investigations by law enforcement over the years that dealt heavy blows to the gang’s leadership.
In 2009, for example, one of the gang’s national leaders, Augustin Zambrano, was arrested as part of a lengthy crackdown aimed at the gang called Operation Broken Crown, a reference to the gang’s crown insignia.
Zambrano, a so-called “Corona” whose power stretched from Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood to the East Coast and Texas, was convicted in 2011 of racketeering conspiracy for orchestrating violence and drug dealing in Chicago. Also convicted were Vicente Garcia Jr., said to be in charge of all Latin Kings in Illinois; Alphonso Chavez, alleged leader of the gang’s 31st and Drake faction; and Jose Guzman, a reputed former enforcer in Little Village.
During the six-week trial, former members testified about the strict rules, formally laid out in a constitution and rule book that they were required to follow. The testimony showed they had to defend their turf with guns and be ready to fire at rivals. In one instance, a musician in Little Village for a performance was shot while he and his friends drove through the neighborhood.
Recordings also captured the violence, including a graphic black-and-white video showing one Latin King being pummeled and stomped by fellow members during a “violation,” or gang punishment.
Zambrano was sentenced in 2012 to 60 years in prison.
Nancy DePodesta, a former federal prosecutor who led the case against Zambrano, said in an interview Tuesday that it was “disheartening” to see so many of the same allegations in the new charges.
“I’d like to think that we were able to disrupt the gang and deter others from following in the footsteps of these leaders,” said DePodesta, who is now in private practice. “But I’m not naive to think that this was going to put an end to it.”
The indictments brought in Chicago on Tuesday target two factions of the Latin Kings, one that operates on the city’s Southeast Side, several southern Cook County suburbs as well as in Indiana, and another known as the “M-Town” faction, which controls the Melrose Park and Maywood area.
The three alleged Southeast enforcers charged in the indictment are Raul Cavillo, 33, Joel Nunez, 39, and Carlos Padilla Jr., 35, all of Chicago.
Also arrested were three alleged Incas charged as leaders of the M-Town crew: Piere Paolo Gennell, 30, of Melrose Park; Jose Hernandez, 45, of Maywood; and David Perez, 26, of Melrose Park.
Among the allegations levied in the indictments were that a soldier in the M-Town faction, Edgar Velarde-Saldana, 33, tried to murder a Melrose Park police officer in July 2014, after it was learned the officer was assisting FBI agents. Fardon declined to elaborate Tuesday on the circumstances of that alleged incident.
Gang leaders also issued “standing orders to shoot and beat” rivals and even attack Latin Kings who had fallen from good standing for one reason or another, according to the charges. These orders were sometimes referred to as “KOS” or “Kill on Sight,” the charges alleged.
DePodesta said one of the most disturbing aspects about the gang was the dues members were forced to pay — money earmarked for criminal defense attorneys and sometimes even funeral expenses.
“In what other organization is it just part of doing business to set aside funds for the funerals of your members?” she said. “It’s chilling.”
Twitter @jmetr22b
