Gang Leader Gets 20 Years for Running Drug Network

A longtime Los Angeles gang leader was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison for running a narcotics network that imported crack cocaine from Mexico and distributed it across the country.

U.S. District Judge George H. King on Monday sentenced Wayne Alfred “Honcho” Day to 19 years, five months in federal prison, and five years of supervised release.

King also ruled that Day, 40, obstructed justice by lying on the stand during trial.

In addition to the sentence handed down Monday, Day, faces sentencing June 9 before U.S. District Judge Robert Takasugi for his conviction last year on charges of possessing stolen property that had crossed state lines.

Day, the leader of the Grape Street Crips, was convicted last year of conspiracy and distributing cocaine and cocaine base, or “crack.” Prosecutors said he ran a criminal network that grew from a small Watts street gang into a distribution system that imported cocaine from Mexico to Los Angeles and then distributed it to cities including Minneapolis, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Jackson, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn.

Forty-nine other defendants were indicted in a nationwide sweep last year.