LOS ANGELES : Judge Denies Bail to Alleged Member of Mexican Mafia
A federal magistrate judge in Los Angeles refused Wednesday to release an associate of the Mexican Mafia prison gang and ordered him held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Joe (Noser) Herrera, 21, was one of 22 core members or associates of the Mexican Mafia indicted on racketeering charges.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Reichmann denied Herrera’s request for bail.
Detention hearings were postponed until Friday for alleged associate George Bustamante, 64, and reputed member Michael Salinas, 45.
All of the indicted defendants, excluding the five in state custody, two fugitives and one who was killed Friday, are scheduled to be in court next Monday for arraignments.
As with the other suspects, Herrera, Bustamante and Salinas were charged with a single count of conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which includes crimes of murder, extortion and kidnaping.
Herrera and Salinas are accused of exacting “street taxes” from Latino gangs in exchange for protection in and out of jail. Hererra is accused of conspiring to distribute narcotics, and conspiring to extort a “tribute,” or tax, in the form of money and guns from street gangs, according to the indictment, which was unsealed Monday.
Salinas is accused of conspiring to murder five people, extortion and attending several Mexican Mafia meetings in the Southland, court records show.
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