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Showing posts with the label crime

Mexican Mafia member's daughter allegedly did his bidding

Vianna Roman is charged, along with 28 others, with a variety of crimes related to activities of the Harpys street gang in South L.A., reputedly run by her father from prison. When her father was convicted of the murder of a rival gang member and sentenced to life in prison without parole almost three decades ago, Vianna Roman was a 9-year-old girl . In the years since, Danny Roman , federal authorities say, has become a feared member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang . He allegedly controlled a 30-square-mile expanse of gang territory in South L.A. from behind bars in Pelican Bay State Prison . Doing his bidding from 700 miles away — passing down his orders of violence , collecting " taxes " from businesses and other gang members at his behest — was his daughter , federal prosecutors alleged Thursday. Vianna , now 37, a mother and operator of a meat market and water store, was among 18 arrested as part of a sweeping federal take-down of members o...

More bloodshed likely to come after another Montreal Mafia death

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Vito Rizzuto , right, reputed head of the Montreal Mafia , speaks with his lawyer following a 2004 court hearing in Montreal .  MONTREAL — The weekend killing of a man with alleged ties to the Mafia is the latest manifestation of the power struggle being waged in Montreal ’s underworld , experts said. And there’s likely more bloodshed to come. " Montreal is like a powder keg right now. And there is a sense that the violence is no longer one-sided," Mafia expert Antonio Nicaso said in an interview on Sunday." Unfortunately, I don’t think this is the end of it." Montreal homicide detectives did not release the name of the victim , whose body was found riddled with bullets and slumped in a white Range Rover SUV about 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. But he was identified in numerous reports as Emilio Cordileone, 50. Cordileone had no criminal record . However, his name came up numerous times during Operation Colisée, the RCMP probe into organized crime . ...

Police say Mexican Mafia prison gang led crime ring in Ventura County

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A 39-year-old man in an out-of-state prison directed a crime ring in Ventura County that forced competing gangs to work together and funneled money back to the Mexican Mafia prison gang, authorities said Tuesday. Martin Madrigal was among 27 people, including two teens, who were indicted and accused of crimes such as conspiring to commit assault, extortion, home invasion , robbery and drug trafficking , Ventura County sheriff's and district attorney's officials said at a news conference. All but two have been arrested, and at least 16 more are expected to be indicted, officials said. The suspects are largely members of local gangs who worked with the Mexican Mafia , authorities said. "These are hard-core criminal gang members. They wake up every day and try to decide where they're going to commit crimes ," Sheriff Geoff Dean said at the news conference. Authorities have seized 32 weapons , $36,000 in cash and a quarter-pound of heroin, off...

Reputed Mafia don summoned to corruption inquiry

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Vito Rizzuto , right, reputed head of the Montreal Mafia , speaks with his lawyer Jean Salois. Police confirm they have met with Vito Rizzuto amid reports that he has been summoned for what would be the memorable spectacle of a reputed Mafia don testifying at Quebec 's corruption inquiry. Provincial police will not comment on the inquiry appearance first reported by Radio-Canada , the French-language CBC . The news organization said police delivered subpoena papers to Rizzuto , who was alleged to have been this country's most powerful Mafia figure and head of a crime family with myriad international ties. Police confirmed to The Canadian Press that they tracked down Rizzuto on Monday. "He was met - I can confirm that," said provincial police Sgt. Claude Denis. "But that's all I can say." The sight of a prominent underworld figure answering questions on a live TV broadcast would only be the latest twist in an inquiry that...

THE INTERNET VERSION OF A MAFIA SHAKEDOWN?

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Think you'll ever get a good paying job once that headhunter or potential employer finds your mugshot and info about your arrest on the Internet? (MONROE, WA) -- You have a picture taken of you. A picture you do not want taken…at a police station somewhere. It is your mug shot. Your arrest shot. But later, you may be exonerated of whatever crime you were charged with. Maybe the charges were dropped before there ever was a trial. Now you find your mug shot on a website . You tell the website – which is a mugshot website that does nothing but post mug shots – that you want it taken down because you have been exonerated or were never charged to begin with. The website says sure. For $400. You give us $400 dude (or more) and we take down your photo . Sound like a low level Mafia shakedown to you? Some people think it is. “That’s the dilemma facing people across the country as a backlash rises against mug-shot websites that demand that people pay up to have th...