Gang Enforcer Gets Life Term in Prison

Moments after being sentenced Monday to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Anthony “Coco” Zaragoza, chief enforcer for the Columbia Lil’ Cycos street gang, turned to two FBI agents seated in the courtroom spectator gallery and, in a display of outlaw bravado, flashed a big smile and a thumbs-up sign.

“No hard feelings,” he then told Assistant U.S. Atty. Bruce Riordan, reaching out through manacles to shake the hand of the man who helped send him away.

Zaragoza, who has gang logos tattooed on his cheek and neck, is one of three members of the Rampart-area gang found guilty in May after a trial on federal racketeering charges.

All told, 24 suspected members of the Lil’ Cycos, a clique of the notorious 18th Street gang, have been convicted in the case. They include Zaragoza’s former wife and his father.

Riordan said the Lil’ Cycos case was one that cried out for prosecution under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law enacted decades ago as a weapon against the Mafia.

The Lil’ Cycos patterned themselves after an East Coast mob family, exacting “rent” from street-level narcotics dealers in the MacArthur Park area and plowing the proceeds into suburban homes, two restaurants, a juice parlor and a used-car lot.

When FBI agents and Los Angeles homicide detectives raided the gang’s properties, they seized more than $450,000 in cash along with thousands of dollars worth of jewelry.

The use of RICO to crack down on street gangs was on the agenda last week when Los Angeles’ new police chief, William J. Bratton, met with U.S. Atty. Debra W. Yang and other federal law enforcement officials to discuss escalating gang violence in the city.

“RICO is a powerful tool,” Riordan said Monday, “but it can only be used when the circumstances are right. You can’t a fit a square peg into a round hole.”

The law works best, he said, when the gang has a leadership structure and a sense of identity separate from the criminal activities committed by the gang’s members. Then, he said, “RICO can be used to prosecute the gang vertically, from top to bottom, from shot-caller to street soldier.”

Zaragoza, a gang “shot-caller” or lieutenant, was accused of murdering two people and conspiring to kill a third in addition to racketeering. Taking the witness stand in his own defense, he admitted raking in about $5,000 a week in extortion payments from drug dealers, but he denied committing or ordering any murders.

The prosecution’s chief witness, Juan “Termite” Romero, a former Lil’ Cycos member, testified that he and Zaragoza used automatic weapons to gun down a rival gang member who had been trying to move in on Lil’ Cycos territory. The target’s female companion also was killed in the fusillade.

On the stand, Zaragoza spoke emotionally about his devotion to the Lil’ Cycos, which he lovingly described as his “family.” In a letter from jail, which was intercepted by investigators, Zaragoza referred to the gang’s leader, Frank “Pancho Villa” Martinez, as “dad” and to Martinez’s wife, Janie Garcia, as “mom.”

Martinez, 38, who ran the Lil’ Cycos from behind prison walls, was convicted at the same trial in May of racketeering and other charges. So was Alberto “Nefty” Pina, 29, who was described as a loyal soldier. Martinez’s wife went on trial with them, but negotiated a plea agreement midway through the proceedings. All still await sentencing.

This was not the first time that the federal RICO law has been used against Los Angeles-area gangs. Federal prosecutors have used the law to successfully prosecute Mexican Mafia members. Trials are pending against suspected members of the Wah Ching, the Nazi Low Riders and the Aryan Brotherhood.