"Not in my town." That's the message Seguin police hope they got across to gangs.
Nearly a dozen raids were executed as the result of an 18-month long investigation into the Mexican Mafia.
Seguin police say that, as a result, they've put a dent in the gang and drug activity in their community.
Among the day's take: piles of drugs, $60,000 in cash, and several weapons removed from nearly a dozen locations where Mexican Mafia gang members were known to operate. "We do believe that this is going to cause an incredibly serious interruption in the Mexican Mafia in this region," Seguin Police Department Deputy Chief Bruce Ure said.
The investigation into the drug activity began in Seguin 18 months ago with other local, state and federal agencies helping with the execution of those search warrants. "The operation spanned as far west as San Antonio and went as far east as the Houston area. And as far north as New Braunfels," Deputy Chief Ure said.
All the arrests resulted in federal and state drug charges.
One woman at the scene says her family has no affiliation with the Mexican Mafia. "There's no gang members here. They need to get their investigation straight before they come accusing," said Amy Herrera, whose family's home was raided. But police say that all of the locations raided Friday were known to have drug activity. "They are all known Mexican Mafia gang members and if you know anything about the Mexican Mafia, they're a vicious, vicious gang," Deputy Chief Ure said.
It's a gang they hope they have sent a strong message to. "Our gang members need to know whether you're in the MS13, or the Mexican Mafia, or where ever you are. If you're in our region, you're on our radar," Deputy Chief Ure said.
Those that were arrested remain behind bars, including a high-ranking "lieutenant," until their detention hearings in federal court.
Authorities say they are still searching for three other men wanted for drug charges.
Monday, April 18, 2016
Former Olympian, Current Hells Angel, Shot while Riding Motorcycle
Phil Boudreault, the Sudbury boxer who became an unlikely hero at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta and a longtime, high-ranking Hells Angels member, was reportedly shot while riding his motorcycle near Lachute, Que. on Saturday morning.
Sources say he suffered a punctured lung in the attack, which officers from the Surete de Quebec believe was linked to organized crime.
Police have not named the shooting victim, but according to QMI Agency, sources have identified him as Boudreault, a 41-year-old Sudbury native and vice-president for the Hells Angels Ontario Nomads who had been living in Quebec.
According to QMI, SQ spokeswoman Audrey-Anne Bilodeau said "the motorcyclist was seriously injured and was rushed to a hospital, but there is no fear for his life."
Sudbury sources have also identified Boudreault as the man who was shot.
Gord Apolloni, head coach at Top Glove Boxing Academy in Sudbury and Boudreault's former trainer, said he received calls on Sunday confirming the news. "He was going to a bike show near Montreal," Apolloni said. "He was lucky that his girlfriend didn't get shot, because she was on the back of the bike."
Apolloni said he was told Boudreault's injuries were serious and that he might have shrapnel in his spine.
Apolloni said he hasn't seen or spoken with Boudreault in some time, but said "it was a scary thought, knowing he could have been killed." "He has gone off on his own at this point, but I still remember Phil the way that Phil was at the Olympic Games. I still remember him living on his own and trying to clean his life up. That's how I remember Phil."
Police were called at around 10:30 a.m. about an incident on Bethany Road. A man was found lying in a ditch, his motorcycle at his side.
The assailants reportedly fled in an older, gray-blue SUV, which police are trying to locate.
"We heard maybe 10-15 shots," a witness, who did not want to be identified, told QMI Agency in French. "After that, there was a truck that passed us quite quickly and he left."
CTV News in Montreal reported a resident who lives nearby and who did not want to be named said he heard bangs and then a series of rapid-fire shots. He ran to the road and found the biker in pain and lying on the road with a woman at his side, CTV reported.
A second motorcyclist who was riding with them came and dragged the victim away to a ditch, the resident said. The resident spoke to the victim – an anglophone – who told him he is a member of the Hells Angels, CTV reported.
Boudreault had been seen last November at a funeral for one of the founding members of the Hells Angels in Montreal, Lionel Deschamps, in Repentigny, Que., QMI reported, and wore a jacket emblazoned with a Nomads "vice-president" badge.
Dubbed "The Sudbury Sensation," Boudreault represented Canada in the light welterweight division at the 1996 Summer Olympics and became a hero both locally and nationally for a time for his spirited showing in Atlanta.
Since then, however, he has spent much of his time getting in trouble with the law, including a brutal bar attack in 2005.
In 2013, he told a Sudbury court he planned to leave Sudbury after he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for violating his long-term supervision order. "My wife is a schoolteacher," Boudreault said after receiving the jail term. "We're moving. We're out of here … I will pack my bags and be out of this community for good … "I have overstayed my welcome, obviously.”
The former boxer was declared a long-term offender in August 2005, after he was found guilty of a vicious assault on a Valley East father and son in March, 2004. One of the victims suffered a broken jaw in three places, the loss of some teeth and part of his jawbone, and bruised ribs.
In August 2007, Boudreault was placed on a five-year long-term supervision order after completing a two-year prison term for the assault. The Crown had sought to have him declared a dangerous offender.
Boudreault made several attempts to resume his boxing career and compiled a 5-1 record as a professional, but couldn’t stay out of legal trouble.
"I still believe I can perform on the world stage,'' Boudreault told The Star during a training session at the Valley East Boxing Club's facilities in 2009. "I'm not saying I'm going to win a world title, but I believe I can compete at that level.''
Less than a year later, Boudreault was in jail in Sudbury.
Boudreault impressed boxing aficionados with his performance at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, finishing fourth in his weight class and coming within a whisker of winning a bronze medal. Many observers believed he should have won a medal, but was shortchanged by the judges' decision in his final bout.
Thanks to Sudbury Star.
Sources say he suffered a punctured lung in the attack, which officers from the Surete de Quebec believe was linked to organized crime.
Police have not named the shooting victim, but according to QMI Agency, sources have identified him as Boudreault, a 41-year-old Sudbury native and vice-president for the Hells Angels Ontario Nomads who had been living in Quebec.
According to QMI, SQ spokeswoman Audrey-Anne Bilodeau said "the motorcyclist was seriously injured and was rushed to a hospital, but there is no fear for his life."
Sudbury sources have also identified Boudreault as the man who was shot.
Gord Apolloni, head coach at Top Glove Boxing Academy in Sudbury and Boudreault's former trainer, said he received calls on Sunday confirming the news. "He was going to a bike show near Montreal," Apolloni said. "He was lucky that his girlfriend didn't get shot, because she was on the back of the bike."
Apolloni said he was told Boudreault's injuries were serious and that he might have shrapnel in his spine.
Apolloni said he hasn't seen or spoken with Boudreault in some time, but said "it was a scary thought, knowing he could have been killed." "He has gone off on his own at this point, but I still remember Phil the way that Phil was at the Olympic Games. I still remember him living on his own and trying to clean his life up. That's how I remember Phil."
Police were called at around 10:30 a.m. about an incident on Bethany Road. A man was found lying in a ditch, his motorcycle at his side.
The assailants reportedly fled in an older, gray-blue SUV, which police are trying to locate.
"We heard maybe 10-15 shots," a witness, who did not want to be identified, told QMI Agency in French. "After that, there was a truck that passed us quite quickly and he left."
CTV News in Montreal reported a resident who lives nearby and who did not want to be named said he heard bangs and then a series of rapid-fire shots. He ran to the road and found the biker in pain and lying on the road with a woman at his side, CTV reported.
A second motorcyclist who was riding with them came and dragged the victim away to a ditch, the resident said. The resident spoke to the victim – an anglophone – who told him he is a member of the Hells Angels, CTV reported.
Boudreault had been seen last November at a funeral for one of the founding members of the Hells Angels in Montreal, Lionel Deschamps, in Repentigny, Que., QMI reported, and wore a jacket emblazoned with a Nomads "vice-president" badge.
Dubbed "The Sudbury Sensation," Boudreault represented Canada in the light welterweight division at the 1996 Summer Olympics and became a hero both locally and nationally for a time for his spirited showing in Atlanta.
Since then, however, he has spent much of his time getting in trouble with the law, including a brutal bar attack in 2005.
In 2013, he told a Sudbury court he planned to leave Sudbury after he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for violating his long-term supervision order. "My wife is a schoolteacher," Boudreault said after receiving the jail term. "We're moving. We're out of here … I will pack my bags and be out of this community for good … "I have overstayed my welcome, obviously.”
The former boxer was declared a long-term offender in August 2005, after he was found guilty of a vicious assault on a Valley East father and son in March, 2004. One of the victims suffered a broken jaw in three places, the loss of some teeth and part of his jawbone, and bruised ribs.
In August 2007, Boudreault was placed on a five-year long-term supervision order after completing a two-year prison term for the assault. The Crown had sought to have him declared a dangerous offender.
Boudreault made several attempts to resume his boxing career and compiled a 5-1 record as a professional, but couldn’t stay out of legal trouble.
"I still believe I can perform on the world stage,'' Boudreault told The Star during a training session at the Valley East Boxing Club's facilities in 2009. "I'm not saying I'm going to win a world title, but I believe I can compete at that level.''
Less than a year later, Boudreault was in jail in Sudbury.
Boudreault impressed boxing aficionados with his performance at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, finishing fourth in his weight class and coming within a whisker of winning a bronze medal. Many observers believed he should have won a medal, but was shortchanged by the judges' decision in his final bout.
Thanks to Sudbury Star.
Prison Sentenced Announced for 10th Street Gang Member in Shooting
U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced that Luis Hernandez, age 26, of Buffalo, New York, who was convicted of discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi, who handled the case, stated that on April 17, 2006, the defendant assisted a group of 10th Street Gang members, who were looking to shoot rival 7th Street Gang members, by firing a shotgun at a group of people outside of a residence on Pennsylvania Street on the West Side of Buffalo. On that date, the defendant was among a group of six (6) 10th Street Gang members and associates who were armed and fired shots at the victims. During the shooting, the defendant possessed a shotgun and discharged this firearm in the general vicinity of the victims. In total, dozens of shots were fired at the victims from the various firearms possessed by the defendant and other 10th Street Gang members and associates. Brandon MacDonald and Darinell Young were both shot and killed as a result of injuries sustained during the shooting.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi, who handled the case, stated that on April 17, 2006, the defendant assisted a group of 10th Street Gang members, who were looking to shoot rival 7th Street Gang members, by firing a shotgun at a group of people outside of a residence on Pennsylvania Street on the West Side of Buffalo. On that date, the defendant was among a group of six (6) 10th Street Gang members and associates who were armed and fired shots at the victims. During the shooting, the defendant possessed a shotgun and discharged this firearm in the general vicinity of the victims. In total, dozens of shots were fired at the victims from the various firearms possessed by the defendant and other 10th Street Gang members and associates. Brandon MacDonald and Darinell Young were both shot and killed as a result of injuries sustained during the shooting.
Prison Sentenced Announced for 7th Street Gang Member in RICO Case
U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced that 7th Street Gang member Luis Medina, 24, who pleaded guilty to Racketeering Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy, was sentenced to 210 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi, who handled the case, stated that Luis Medina, as a member of the 7th Street Gang, sold heroin and possessed firearms. In addition, on April 16, 2006, Medina shot a rival 10th Street Gang member with a .22 caliber firearm. Furthermore, on June 13, 2009, while being held in the Erie County Holding Center, Medina learned that his cousin Christian Portes was killed by the 10th Gang members. Medina made a phone call from the holding center requesting that fellow 7th Street Gang members kill 10th Street Gang members in retaliation for the murder of his cousin. After being released on November 7, 2009, Medina himself fired shots at 10th Gang members.
A total of 18 defendants have been charged in this case. To date, 17 have been convicted.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi, who handled the case, stated that Luis Medina, as a member of the 7th Street Gang, sold heroin and possessed firearms. In addition, on April 16, 2006, Medina shot a rival 10th Street Gang member with a .22 caliber firearm. Furthermore, on June 13, 2009, while being held in the Erie County Holding Center, Medina learned that his cousin Christian Portes was killed by the 10th Gang members. Medina made a phone call from the holding center requesting that fellow 7th Street Gang members kill 10th Street Gang members in retaliation for the murder of his cousin. After being released on November 7, 2009, Medina himself fired shots at 10th Gang members.
A total of 18 defendants have been charged in this case. To date, 17 have been convicted.
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