Dec 26 2006
IMPRISONED MEXICAN MAFIA MEMBER PLEADS NOT GUILTY
LOS ANGELES - An imprisoned Mexican Mafia member pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges alleging he controlled two cliques of the 18th Street gang from behind bars.
Ruben Castro, 46, is serving a life term in federal prison for a 1997 racketeering conviction.
But prosecutors allege he continued exerting control over gang members outside of prison by using his girlfriend, 62-year-old Jesusita Ramirez, to pass along his orders.
Castro and Ramirez are charged in a 71-page indictment along with 16 other defendants.
Prosecutors allege the two gang cliques — the Shatto Park Locos and the Hoover Locos — operated as a criminal enterprise that used violence and intimidation to control the drug trade in the Mid-Wilshire, Koreatown, Pico-Union and MacArthur Park areas of Los Angeles.
A cut of the money allegedly went to Castro.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder.
| Dec 26, 2006 3:23 pm US/Pacific © 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. http://cbs2.com/topstories/local_story_360182534.html
