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17 Cards in this Set

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Historical Background of Hispanic and African-American Gangs
*gangs not new; Forty Thieves and Jones Brothers in 1930s
*Itailan "Black Hand" and Irish "White Hand" gangs operated in major cities in early 20th Cent.
*Gangs and violence moved with people south to Sun Belt cities motivated by social dissatisfaction and lack of education
*1980s, increase gangs bbecause of increase demand for illegal drugs in America
*Not just urban, rural areas like Mississippi, had increase violence and drug distribution associated with drug distribution
*Today groups like Gangster Disciples have members in over 35 states and membership in Chicago alone is 20,000; FBI designated them a major OC group
*Not all gangs OC
Hispanic/Latino Gangs
*From19th Century; 1852 US annexation of southeastern territories; many left without country and were removed from homes and ranches after annexation; gathered into barrios; varrio used to reference a gang and is used interchangeably with barrio; 1:5 immigrants from Mexico
*Graffitti/plaquesos/placas; artwork and writing marking turf, stating statues, offer challenges
*Calo street slang formed by gang and appears in graffitti
*Monikers, street names, used in grafitti and identify an individual member and his level of activity
*Communication through graffitti, handsigns, tattoos, and a mix of English and Spanish new words and phrases
*Clicas: organized by age range; 7-8 called Inano or Tiny Locos; Veteranos are older and likely have spent time in prison; veteranos train younger members in culture, handsigns, tattoos, etc.
Gang Culture
*Motivation: unrealistic and violent television, brutal prison mentality, identify themselves as warriors or soldiers, want recognition that they think is impossible outside of gang, gang is substitute for family and becomes family, gang is only place they receive love, need discipline which gang leaders provide, assumption gang will provide for all needs and desires
*lack of positive role models, jobs, adult supervision, peer pressure, need to belong, unsuccessful students also draws to gang life
*Rules of gangs vary and violation result in assault or death; loyalty is key
*Three R's: reputation (being beaten down by members and then after everyone says they love each other, linking violence and love; reputation very important); respect (sought for individual and the gang; disrespect demands retaliation); retaliation/revenge (no disrespect goes unanswered)
*also have prayers
Gang Structure
*Varies; loose coalition to formal organization; codified written rules or unwritten rules and procedures
*gang will be unified in "peace times" or times of no conflict with rival gang; often display some type of unity in dress
*Members divided by types according to level of involvement; HARD CORE need and thrive on gang activity, often leaders or have respect of all members, determine level of violence; AFFILIATE associate with gang for status and recognition, active in gang activity, wear tattoos, gang colors, or jackets; PERIPHERAL: in and out of gang based on interest in current gang activity
*recruit as early as 9 or 10 but majority are 12-25; underachievers with poor self-esteem
*Classified by Fagan into four types: social gangs with low level of delinquent and drug use or sales; party gang with acts of vandalism, extensive drug use, and cohesive based on patterns of drug use; Serious delinquents involved in drug sales and serious violent crime and may be classified as OC; Young organizations deal in extensive drug sales, highly cohesive and organized, high potential to become OC
*Huff divided gangs into three types according to activity: Hedonistic gangs with minor crimes, getting high and having fun; instrumental gangs with high volume of property crimes and not organized; predatory gangs wtih robbery theft, serious drug abuse and sales often used to purchase weapons
*Members refers to themselves as warriors and have rules regarding their behavior
Major Gangs
*origins and histories confusing and debated
*culture and pressures of inner cities causes a social bond to form between the gangs and their community that is a major factor in the continued existence of gangs
*Bloods and Crips, Jeff Fort and the Black P. Stone Nation, Larry Hoover and the Gangster Disciples
Historical Black Figures of OC
FRANK LUCAS: created international heroin ring; established direct source for illegal drug; known as the Country Boys and expanded to Chicago, NC, LA, and NJ; became wealthy and owned numerous assets; connections with LCN Genovese Family; restricted membership to his relatives; told all information to get sentence lightened
FRANK MATTHEWS: major heroin trafficker in 1960s; distribution network included French Connection operated in as many as 20 states
LEROY BARNES: King of Harlem; made fortune in heroin trafficking; connections to LCN; grew up in Harlem; convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to life
CHARLES LUCAS: developed an international heroin smuggling and distribution network; established contacts in Southeast Asia, using African American veterans of Vietnam War and mostly relatives; organization had a division of labor with leadership management positions
Other Black Criminal Organizations
NIGERIAN ORGANIZED CRIME: fraud and drug trafficking, organized along home tribal cities; extensive smuggling operations routing Southeast Asia heroin and cocaine to Europe and US; major transportation hub but not producer for heroin of cocaine; I am a Nigerian Prince scam
JAMAICAN OC: adopted name posse; grew out of political turmoil in Kingston, Jamaica; most infamous for level of violence including over 2000 drug-related murders between 1985-1990; involved wtih Mexican DTOs; not much activity in US due to high violence and effective law enforcement; continue to act as importers, wholesalers, and distributers; Shower Posse and Spangler Posse rivals in cocaine and marijuana distribution and used high-tech weaponry in the 1980s; Connections to black street gangs like Crips; non-ideological; infiltrated legit businesses
Prison Gangs
*Difficult to define as organized crime; Normally have structure and well-defined system of leadership, because of parole, transfers, and intervention by correctional officials leadership is unstable
*Chief objective to control prison environment and acquire contraband inside prison
*1957 Deuel Vocational Institute in CA, Mexican Mafia emerged; controlled male prostitution, drug distribution, gambling and extortion; allied with Arian Brotherhood against Nuestra Family
*Nuestra Familia organized in 1967 in Soledad Prison as rival to EME; established presence outside of prison; Rigid structure, established positions including general, captains, and lietuenants; Allied with BGF against EME
*Other gangs include Texas Syndiactes (Folsom prison 1974), Arian Brotherhood (San Quentin 1960s), and Black Guerilla Family (San Quentin 1966)
*Are ideological; Arian Brotherhood affiliated with KKK
RICO
*1970 Racketeer and Corrupt Organization Statute
*Robert Blakely 1986 complained there was no applicable definition of OC, racket, or racketeering; current legal attempts to define OC were vague in that they may voilate the constitutional right to associate or assemble as well as rights of due process or equal protection
*Allows for prosecution of a pattern of crimes committed through an organization, referred to in the statute as an enterprise
*Makes it a crime to acquire, receive incme from, or operate an enterprise through a pattern of racketeering; some believe this statute leads to prosecution of criminals who are not members of OC and is too vague
*pattern of racketeering activity includes any two acts of racketeering by a person within ten years of each other, not necessarily the same type of action but some how linked like in motivation
*Cases against traditional OC have led to the expansion of fedearl RICO statutes to include publication of obscene materials, drug trafficking by street gangs, and police corruption, but ts use in violent anti-abortion protest group cases was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2006
*Courts can issue restraining orders before conviction to prevent transfer of potentially forfeitable property or assets
*Require excessive excessive resources and time to develop and prosecute; can try multiple defendants where the activities of all are presented to the jury
*it is essential to prove a pattern of racketeering or long-term criminal activity and to have the group classified as a criminal enterprise
*Columbian Cartels, La Cosa Nostra, and other criminals have been prosecuted successfully under RICO
*Forfeiture provisions allow the government to take away incentive of profit from organized crime figures; property can be frozen without charging the owner with a crime
Hobbs Act and Extortion
*One of earliest statutes to deal with OC
*Enacted in 1946
*Made it a federal crime to obstruct or interfere with interstate commerce; ex: extortion or robbery
*Crime to travel or use interstate facilities (like the telephone) to aid illegal activity
*Able to prosecute union officials who obtained kickbacks, fees, loans or any money or reward for using their influence on the unions or people they represent
*Property is extorted under law by the Hobbs Act when a public official agrees that his or her official conduct will be controlled as promised or paid by another person
*Under Color of Official Right act, it is a fine of $10,000 and up to three years in prison if Hobbs Act is Violated
*La Cosa Nostra has been indicted by more Hobb's violations than most other OC
Bloods and Crips
*Bloods probably formed in 1967 in LA; operate in many major cities like NYC and rural areas along Mississippi Gulf Coast; comprised of African Americans and Afro-Latinos
* Bloods 1970s banded together to protect themselves from Crips
*Bloods began as social group with own dress style and very turf oriented
*Bloods minor crimes evolved to auto thefts, drive-by shootings, and drug distribution
*confrontations between Bloods and Crips led to extreme violence and many placed into institutions like California Youth Authority
*membership estimated over 100,000
*Crips joined with Black Guerilla Family, which was alligned with Black LIberation Army; originally formed in 1966 in San Quentin
*Despite attempt to link, not much evidence of a united national gang
Jeff Fort and Black P. Stone Nation
*Formed Black P. Stone Nation in 1968 by negotiating with 21 warring gangs and imprisoned in 1972 for embezzlement of funds Fed gov gave to the group
*In prison formed El Rukins, a quasi-Muslim religions organization
*Later arrested and convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana
*Given money by Dem Party to campaign in Chicago and invited to 1967 inauguration of Pres Nixon
*Convicted of terrorist acts against US in addition to conspiracy to distribute cocaine
*1980s, over 60 members and Fort charged and convicted of numerous crimes, including murder of rival gang members
*By 1996, dissipated and most assets forfeited
Larry Hoover and Gangster Disciples
*Joined Gangster Disciples active in Jackson, MS
*One of two proteges to King David Barksdale
*After Barksdale's death, Disciples split into two factions: Black Disciples and Gangster Disciples
*Most of income from drug distribution but also from petty crimes like theft and prostitution
*Disciples soon established a formal structure and were rivals to BBlack P. Stone Nation
*involved in politics by supporting candidates and voter registration drives
*over 50,000 members, including pee wees and female counterparts; extensive leadership; codified rules or laws; very bureaucratic
*late 1990s, Hoover and gang suffered multiple indictments and convictions
Property Forfeiture
*Civil forfeiture is a legal proceeding against property that either is purchased with profits from illgal actvitiy to facilitate crime, like vehicles or boats used to transport illegal contraband
*Criminal forfeiture requires the defendant to be found guilty of a crime and is ordered to forfeit property or funds related to the crime
*Federal Comprehensive Forfeiture Act of 1984 enhanced government's ability to seize assets of drug traffickers
*Major advantage of civil forfeiture is that it allows a lesser burden of proof than criminal forfeiture; probably cause needed to seize but afterwards burden of proof shifts to the owner
*Heresay evidence can be used to establish probably cause but US Supreme Court
*Assets that are proceeds of criminal activity or that have facilitated criminal activity such as aircrafts or boats can also be sezied
*Seized assets given to law enforcement to either auction or supplement cost of operations
*Under civil forfeiture, only necessary to like the owner to drug trafficking in some aspect and then make the owner prove how the assets were obtained
Violations of the Internal Revenue Code
*During 1960s, tax investigations by the IRS produced most of the convictions of organized crime offenders
*tax evasion is a common crime of OC; OC fail to keep records nad do not file tax returns while spending large sums of money
*IRS investigates using network and expenditure schedule, source and application of funds, and bank deposit methods
*Once unexplained income is discovered by investigators, burden of proof shifts to suspect to ensure it was legally obtained
Money Laundering Laws
*Defined as all activities designed to conceal the existence, nature, and final disposition of funds gained through illicit activities; clean illegal funds before spending
*can be as simple as mailing or transporting out of country or as complex as a bank takeover
*President's Commission on Organized Crime 1984 observed new methods of laundering such as wire transfers to avoid the Currency Transaction Report (CTR) and Currency Monetary Instrument Report (CMIR), fronts and shell corporations, and smurfs
*Smurfing involves OC members making multiple smaller transactions under $10,000 to avoid reporting
*Right to Privacy Act of 1978 allowed financial institutions to give authorities the name of the suspect or organization, the account number, and the nature of suspected illegal transaction
*Before 1986 Money Laundering Act, it was not a federal crime to launder money
*Drug Abuse Act of 1988 requires offshore banks record any US transfers over $10,000 and allow government access to the records
*Annuzio-Wylie Money Laundering Act of 1992 and the Money Laundering Suppression Act of 1994 makes it a crime to operate a money laundering business, but it also protects financial institutions from civil liability when reporting suspicious activity of customers
*Money Laundering Prosecution Improvement Act of 1988 requires financial institutions to verify the identity of persons who purchase bank checks, traveling checks, or money orders in amounts of $3000 or more
*USA Patriot Act is broadest monetary laundering statute currently; does not require a list of specific offenses; crime list includes bribery of public official, embezzlement and misappropriation and theft; expands definition of illegal money transmitting business to include unlicensed businesses and those who transport or transmit illegal proceeds or money intended to promote or support unlawful activity
*1990 Financial Crimes Enforcement Network divides money laundering into 3 stages: placement where illegal proceeds are placed into financial systems unnoticed or transported out of the US, layering where funds go through a series of financial transactions in such frequency and volume that they are difficult to trace and appear legitimate, and integration where the funds integrate into the economy in such a way that they appear to be derived from legit income
*Financial institutions are common players in the business of OC activity, such as Western Union; used as black market exchanges to launder money
Controlled Substances Act
*Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 gives federal jurisdiction for investigating drug trafficking and provides substantial penalties for violation of the Act
*Divides substances into 5 schedules based on potential for addiction and harm
*1988 Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act controls substances known as precursor chemicals needed to produce certain drugs; records of purchases and transactions of such are required by the Act to allow investigators to trace products to clandestine labs
*Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 and the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 increased prison sentences for specific drug offenses