{"id":1015,"date":"2007-09-25T09:23:15","date_gmt":"2007-09-25T13:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.com\/blog\/?p=1015"},"modified":"2007-09-25T09:23:15","modified_gmt":"2007-09-25T13:23:15","slug":"georgia-gang-members-convicted-of-racketeering-murder-find-a-legal-resident-in-this-bunch-of-people-just-looking-for-a-better-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/2007\/09\/25\/georgia-gang-members-convicted-of-racketeering-murder-find-a-legal-resident-in-this-bunch-of-people-just-looking-for-a-better-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Georgia Gang members convicted of racketeering, murder – find a legal resident in this bunch of “people just looking for a better life”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gang members convicted of racketeering, murder
\nTerritory included Gwinnett, DeKalb, Fulton<\/strong>
\nBy JEFFRY SCOTT
\nThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution<\/p>\n

Five members of a street gang that operated in three metro counties for more than a decade committing robberies, carjackings, selling drugs and dispensing death in gang warfare were convicted Thursday in federal court in Atlanta of racketeering and violent crimes.<\/p>\n

The reputed leader of the SUR-13 gang, Armando “Charra” Prudente, 34, and two others \u2014 Roberto “Charrita” Sandoval, 25, and Jorge “Shadow” Flores, 28 \u2014 were convicted of murdering Rogelio Guzman in an April 24, 1999, drive-by shooting outside a Happy Shop convenience store on South Norcross Tucker Road in Gwinnett County.<\/p>\n

According to evidence presented at trial, Prudente ordered a drive-by shooting in the territory of rival gang Brownside Locos after members of that gang had fired shots at a SUR-13 hangout. Guzman, 23, who was not a member of a gang, was chosen as a target because of the car he was driving: a low-rider, old model Chevrolet Monte Carlo.<\/p>\n

Another member of the gang, Israel “Mananitas” Cruz, 29, was convicted of the December 13, 2003, murder of Florentino Marcial, 21, after a fight broke out between rival gangs at a party in an apartment complex on Lindbergh Drive in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

According to testimony at trial, after exchanging insults and obscenities with a member of the rival gang, Cruz pulled out a handgun and started firing into the crowd. Marcial, who wasn’t a gang member, was shot in the back as he ran, killing him instantly.<\/p>\n

Ricardo “Kiwi” Gama, 29, was convicted of racketeering and being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.<\/p>\n

United States Attorney David E. Nahmias said the 2005 indictment of the gang, which operates in Gwinnett, DeKalb and Fulton counties, “broke the leadership structure of SUR-13. Today’s convictions should also have a chilling effect on persons who join gangs and commit such heinous crimes.”<\/p>\n

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 19. Prudente, Sandoval, Cruz and Flores are expected to be sentenced to life in prison. Gama could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years and a fine up to $750,000.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the rest here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gang members convicted of racketeering, murder Territory included Gwinnett, DeKalb, Fulton By JEFFRY SCOTT The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Five members of a street gang that operated in three metro counties for more than a decade committing robberies, carjackings, selling drugs and dispensing death in gang warfare were convicted Thursday in federal court in Atlanta of racketeering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}