14 Plead Not Guilty in Mexican Mafia Probe

Amid tight security, 14 alleged members and associates of the Mexican Mafia prison gang pleaded not guilty Monday to federal charges that they and their organization attempted to control drug trafficking among hundreds of Latino street gangs.

The 14 defendants, decked out in prison dungarees with their hands shackled at their waists, were arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rosalyn Chapman at the Downtown federal courthouse. During the proceeding, federal marshals stood guard and checked the identification of visitors as they entered the courtroom.

The defendants pleaded not guilty to individual counts “in aid of racketeering” that included murder, extortion and drug dealing. In all, 22 alleged Mexican Mafia members and associates--ranging from the gang’s reputed godfather to street-level enforcers--were indicted last week under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

The 81-page indictment was the culmination of a two-year probe by a task force of federal, state and local officials that specifically targeted the Mexican Mafia.

For years, the Mexican Mafia has controlled narcotics distribution, gambling and prostitution in the state prison system. But realizing the moneymaking potential of organizing the hundreds of Latino gangs in Southern California, the prison gang has attempted to spread its influence on the streets.

Relying on fear and intimidation and rhetoric steeped in cultural unity, Mexican Mafia members ordered street gangs in the fall and summer of 1993 to halt drive-by shootings and settle their differences face-to-face--or else face the deadly wrath of the syndicate behind bars.

Among those arraigned Monday was George Bustamante, 64, who was involved in brokering a truce last year between warring black and Latino gangs in the Oakwood neighborhood of Venice. The indictment names Bustamante as a prison gang associate who conspired to further its alleged racketeering efforts.

Bustamante’s attorney, Paul E. Potter, said Monday that the case against his client was “paper thin” and said that he would be vindicated when the jury hears the evidence.

Appearing at the courthouse in support of Bustamante were about two dozen community activists, who accused the government of targeting an innocent man.

Absent from the arraignment Monday were the prison gang’s alleged godfather, Benjamin (Topo) Peters, 54, and the man who is engaged with him in a generational power struggle for control of the organization, Ruben (Tupi) Hernandez, 35.

Both men are incarcerated at the state’s maximum-security facility at Pelican Bay. They are among five alleged Mexican Mafia members named in the indictment who are already imprisoned in the California penal system.

The five reputed gang members will be brought to Los Angeles for arraignment before the trial’s scheduled start on June 27, authorities said.

Also arraigned Monday was an alleged longtime organization member who is charged with helping plot the execution of an anti-gang activist who worked as a consultant on Edward James Olmos’ Mexican Mafia film “American Me.”

David (Smilon) Gallardo, 35, is charged with, among other crimes, helping arrange the May, 1992, killing of Ana Lizzaraga by two ski-masked attackers. Officials say she was shot because Mexican Mafia leaders felt that Olmos’ film was disrespectful.