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AP
Augustin Zambrano used murder and other violence to protect his drug-selling operation as head of the Chicago-based Latin Kings gang, authorities say.
CHICAGO — The national leader of the 35,000-member Latin Kings gang was sentenced Wednesday to the maximum 60 years in federal prison for racketeering, conspiracy and other charges involving violent drug trafficking.
Augustin Zambrano, 51, must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence because of an extensive criminal history that includes coordinating "a savage code of violence" that led to numerous murders, beatings and other violence, said Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
"As the CEO of this gang, Zambrano bears responsibility for its criminal acts," Fitzgerald said in a statement.
NBC station WMAQ of Chicago reported that Zambrano, who was arrested in 2009 and convicted last April, is the biggest catch from the Latin Kings since Gino Colon, the previous "corona," or top leader, was sentenced to life in prison in 2000.
Founded in Chicago in the 1940s and formally known as the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, the gang has 35,000 members nationwide, authorities said, about a third of them in Illinois.
Augustin and three co-defendants were convicted in April after a nationwide investigation that culminated in their arrests in 2009. Jose Guzman, described as an "enforcer" in Chicago, was sentenced last month to 35 years in prison. The two other co-defendants — Vicente Garcia, described as the head of the 10,000 Latin Kings in Illinois, and Alphonso Chavez, the leader of one of its Chicago factions — await sentencing.
Evidence presented at trial included audio and video recordings of three beatings of gang members for violating gang rules and testimony describing 20 shootings in the Little Village area of Chicago alone.
Zambrano "did not carry out any of this violence by himself," Fitzgerald said. As corona, "he was insulated. He was behind the scenes. He entrusted others to do it. He put leaders in place who shared his vision ... to see to it that the Latin Kings acted barbarically."
NBCChicago.com contributed to this report by M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com. Follow M. Alex Johnson on Twitter and Facebook.
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Three things impress me about Patrick Fitzgerald and his merry band of Feds. 1) They don't go after low hanging fruit - they never seem to be discouraged about making a difficult case 2) The convictions they make matter - they've got top street gangs officers, corrupt police, top mobsters, and corrupt politicians all looking over their shoulders 3) Unlike the states attorneys in Chicago and Illinois, he aligns with no political party, no political group. He and his men and women appear incorruptible. Tip of the hat again to Peter Fitzgerald, another independent minded guy, for putting Patrick Fitzgerald in place in Northern Illlinois.
spam gaurd waste of time
1.1 maybe one or 2 more spam gaurds?
Once again, a tip of the hat to Patrick Fitzgerald and his merry Feds. As usual, they disdain the low hanging fruit and instead make the difficult case, and make it stick. Corrupt police officers, top mobsters, corrupt politicians of both parties in Illinois and Chicago, and top street gang members are all looking over their shoulders to see if they're next on the Northern Illinois Fed hit list. None of them can get too comfortable with Patrick Fitzgerald around. And does anyone know what political party he aligns himself with? None that I can figure out, which is the way it should be, but usually isn't. Thanks to Peter Fitzgerald, our pre- Barack senator, for bringing Patrick Fitzgerald to town.
And everyone says these "Latino" Gang Bangers are not a threat to the security of cities in the U.S. If they are not killing "Angelos" they kill each other. What a sad assed waste.
So now he'll have a nice, safe prison cell and all the facilities he needs to run the operation from inside. No net effect on the LK world. Nice effort, no cigar. There's only a couple of ways to fix that, and unfortunately (for us), they are unconstitutional. Pity.
this guy is a "successful loser" put him on the moon that would b funny
"As CEO of the gang, Zambrano bears responsibility for its criminal acts." Why in the hell doesn't this apply to large Corporations...ahhh white collar crime...it's okay...that's just not right.
He won't have any problem running his gang from inside prison.
Welcome to the City of Brotherly Love...