prison gang

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Prison Officials Find 4 Bodies—Then 27 More

Rival gangs strike separately at El Oro prison in Machala, Ecuador

(Newser) - At least 31 inmates were found dead Sunday at a prison in southern Ecuador, most of them believed to have been hanged during gang violence, reports the BBC . Officials say a breakaway gang, Sao-Box, initially targeted the powerful Los Lobos group at El Oro prison in Machala, leaving four dead...

Feds Announce Huge Case Against Mexican Mafia

21 of 31 suspects were already in prison

(Newser) - Federal prosecutors announced a sweeping racketeering case Wednesday aimed at dismantling the leadership of the Mexican Mafia that controlled street gangs in part of southern California. The indictment unsealed in US District Court against three members of the group and 28 associates includes allegations of two murders, six attempted killings,...

FBI: Aryan Brotherhood Member Left Car, 3 Bodies at Hospital

Slain men were also gang members

(Newser) - Police in New Mexico are still trying to piece together the details of a triple slaying in Albuquerque, but they're pretty sure there was a gang connection: Three men found shot to death in a vehicle and the man who left the car in a hospital's parking lot...

White Supremacist Leader Captured After Prison Break

Gang leader, 2nd inmate escaped Ark. facility

(Newser) - Authorities on Thursday captured two fugitives, including a white supremacist gang leader, who escaped from an Arkansas jail and whose disappearance may have gone unnoticed for more than a day. Wesley Gullett, 30, was captured after he was found walking alone down a highway in Dover, which is about 100...

Inmate Charged in DA Murder Plot: He'll Get 'F---ing Pizza'

Alleged gang member Billie Allen wanted to take out Colorado DA, authorities say

(Newser) - An overheard conversation between inmates in a Colorado jail sounded on the surface like a casual chat about a pizza delivery. But upon closer listen, a deputy realized something more chilling was afoot, and now an alleged gang member has been charged with plotting to murder the Weld County district...

83 Charged in 'Blow to Cold-Blooded Prison Gang'

Mexican Mafia 'operated like an illegal government'

(Newser) - The Los Angeles County jails are run by the sheriff, but the Mexican Mafia wielded the power in the underworld behind bars. The organization made up of leaders from various Latino gangs operated like an illegal government, collecting "taxes" on smuggled drugs, ordering hits on people who didn't...

Aryan Brotherhood Kingpin Gets 50 'Very Hard Years'

Sentence keeps James Byrd out of federal prison

(Newser) - James Byrd is a sadistic, ruthless Aryan Brotherhood of Texas kingpin, and prosecutors have won a long fight to keep him out of federal prison. Instead, Tarrant County prosecutor Allenna Bangs tells the Houston Chronicle , the 45-year-old will serve a 50-year sentence in a Texas state prison, where his gang...

In Prison, Keeping Order Is Up to Gangs

And they're very careful about it, writes Graeme Wood

(Newser) - An in-depth look at prison gangs in the Atlantic shows that the groups aren't just forces of feuding and violence—they're actually central to the structure of prison life. "Prison gangs end up providing governance in a brutal but effective way,” a researcher tells Graeme Wood....

Mexican Drug Cartel, US Prison Gang Plotted Merger

La Familia, Mexican Mafia deal would have opened 'superhighway' for meth, guns

(Newser) - Authorities say they've thwarted a massive multinational business merger in Southern California—between Mexican drug cartel La Familia Michoacana and US prison gang Mexican Mafia. "This would have opened a superhighway for drugs and guns and given this cartel an exclusive franchise," says US attorney Andre Birotte...

Blame Union Politics for Baltimore's Jail Scandal

Charles Lane: New law gives guards way too much cover

(Newser) - How on earth did things get so bad at the Baltimore City Detention Center that at least 13 female guards allegedly helped gang bangers sell drugs behind bars and even had their kids? At the Washington Post , Charles Lane thinks a good part of the blame lies with a too-powerful...

Death of Aryan Gang Boss Stumps Cops

Texan Frank Roch found dead in crashed pickup

(Newser) - Texas police are baffled by the death of one of the country's most powerful white supremacists. Frank E. Roch Jr., leader of the biggest faction of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang, was found dying slumped in a crashed pickup truck, reports the Houston Chronicle . The cause of...

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