Marcus Valdespino, author of #WhiteBoyConfessions, Appears Tonight on Crime Beat Radio

Marcus Valdespino, author of The White Boy Confessions: The Explosive Story of Marcus Valdespino and San Antonio's Hood, appears tonight on Crime Beat Radio

The White Boy Confessions is the powerful autobiography of Marcus Valdespino and deals with gang life and violence in San Antonio and such controversial subjects as race relations, poverty, and interracial crime. The first 29 years of Valdespino's was compelling and tragic. He witnessed his father's drug dealing to high profile people and Marcus, unfortunately followed in his footsteps. Valdespino's story shows the worst of humanity and is chilling in its depiction of sex and violence and heartfelt, poignant and sad in its betrayal of the rite of passage of a young person growing up in this world.
The White Boys Confessions is also extremely powerful in its social and political commentary. There are several layers of the story contained within it that are both frightening and humorous.

All of Valdespino's story - the bad and the ugly - is in The White Boy Confessions. It is a story of not just survival but also redemption.

Crime Beat is a weekly hour-long radio program that airs every Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. Crime Beat presents fascinating topics that bring listeners closer to the dynamic underbelly of the world of crime. Guests have included ex-mobsters, undercover law enforcement agents, sports officials, informants, prisoners, drug dealers and investigative journalists, who have provided insights and fresh information about the world’s most fascinating subject: crime.

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Attorney General Holder Delivers Remarks at the Chicago Youth Violence Prevention Roundtable

Thank you all for being here – and for welcoming me back to Chicago today.  I’d particularly like to thank Mayor [Rahm] Emanuel for convening this important discussion.  I want to recognize Jadine [Chou], of the Chicago Public Schools, who is serving as our moderator.  And I’d like to acknowledge the work of our outstanding U.S. Attorney, Zach Fardon, in helping to lead federal law enforcement efforts – and maintain strong partnerships with city and state officials – across this great city and throughout the area.

Most of all, I want to thank each of you for taking the time to be here; for lending your voices, and your unique perspectives, to this conversation; and for your ongoing commitment to frank dialogue, close collaboration, and cutting-edge innovation in pursuit of the progress we seek.
As law enforcement leaders, educators, administrators, and community advocates – but, most of all, as concerned parents – you’ve already stepped forward to offer your leadership, your support, and your skills and expertise in our efforts to combat and prevent youth violence.
Today, I want you to know that my Justice Department colleagues and I are grateful for your extraordinary work.  And we’re determined to stand with you in taking it to a new level.

Chicago has made tremendous progress in bringing the homicide rate down – largely due to the efforts of many in this room.  Yet, I'm sure we can all agree, there is still work to be done.
Statistics show that more than 60 percent of America’s children are exposed to crime, violence, or abuse – as victims or as witnesses – at some point in their lives.  This is a staggering reality with devastating implications – and direct consequences.

For me – and I know for all of you – fighting back has always been much more than a professional obligation.  As our nation’s Attorney General – and as the father of three wonderful kids – it is also a personal priority.

That’s why the work you’re doing – to rally local stakeholders to make our schools and our city streets safer – is so critical.  And it’s why the Obama Administration – led, in part, by this Justice Department – has stepped to the forefront of these efforts, making an unprecedented commitment to help Chicago and other cities stem the tide of violence and protect our youngest citizens.

At the heart of this commitment is our National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention.  Thanks to your tireless work – under the leadership of Mayor Emanuel, the Chicago Police

Department, and the Chicago Public Schools – this city has implemented a comprehensive, broad-based strategy to keep our young people safe, to keep them in the classroom, and to keep them on the path to success.  With the strong support of the Justice Department, you’re applying innovative, data-driven strategies for contending with local challenges.  And as your new report illustrates, these efforts are showing tremendous promise.

As we speak, you’re taking action to disrupt the “school-to-prison pipeline” by reducing out-of-school suspensions and expulsions.  You’ve made significant gains in reducing arrests triggered by student misconduct and student-involved shootings.  You’re ensuring that kids have safe passage to and from school.  You’re supporting mentorship, tutoring, and community engagement efforts. And as a result, as the City announced today, the Chicago Public Schools just marked the safest year on record.  Graduation rates are improving.  And all of this is only the beginning.

In the days ahead, the Justice Department will continue seeking ways to strengthen and institutionalize our support for Chicago’s locally-driven, multi-pronged anti-violence strategy.  Under the 12 current grants administered by our Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention alone, the City of Chicago and Cook County have access to more than $6.6 million to further these efforts.

Moving forward, we’ll keep building on this work – through the support of our Office of Justice Programs; through initiatives like Project Safe Neighborhoods and Defending Childhood; through national efforts such as President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper initiative; and through our continued work to institutionalize the cooperative solutions you’re pioneering – not just here in Chicago, but throughout the country.

These federal resources will be essential in helping to achieve the public safety goals we share.  But I also recognize – as you do – that the challenges we face can only be addressed cooperatively, by entire communities standing together – through the kind of collective action and comprehensive effort that the Mayor, Superintendent [Garry] McCarthy, and other leaders around this table are making possible.

Programs like Chicago’s own CureViolence and the Group Violence Reduction Strategy now being used by the Chicago Police Department have helped to show us what’s possible when the full community becomes involved.

Our nation’s Department of Justice is firmly committed to supporting you in this work.  And we’ll continue to rely on the engagement, the expertise, and the resources that you provide.
I want to thank you, once again, for all that you do to drive our efforts forward.  I am proud to count you as colleagues and partners.  And I look forward to all that we must – and will – accomplish together in the months and years to come.

- Attorney General Eric Holder on Wednesday, July 2, 2014

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7 Colombian Nationals Charged in Connection with the Murder of a DEA Agent, James Terry Watson, Extradited to the U.S.

Seven Colombian nationals were extradited to the United States to face charges relating to the kidnapping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent James Terry Watson.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente for the Eastern District of Virginia, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart and Director Bill A. Miller of the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) made the announcement.

“DEA Special Agent James ‘Terry’ Watson was a brave and talented special agent who represented everything good about federal law enforcement and our DEA family,” said DEA Administrator Leonhart.  “We will never forget Terry’s sacrifice on behalf of the American people during his 13 years of service, nor will DEA ever forget the outstanding work of the Colombian National Police and our other law enforcement partners.  Their efforts quickly led to the arrest and extradition of those accused of committing this heinous act.”

“With the extradition of these suspects, we are one step closer to ensuring that justice is served for the kidnapping and murder of an American hero,” said Attorney General Holder.  “Special Agent Watson gave his life in the service of his country.  We owe him, and his family, a debt of gratitude we can never fully repay.  The Justice Department will never waver in our commitment to ensure that those who commit acts of violence against our best and bravest can be caught and held accountable.”

All of the defendants were indicted by a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia on July 18, 2013.  Gerardo Figueroa Sepulveda, 39; Omar Fabian Valdes Gualtero, 27; Edgar Javier Bello Murillo, 27; Hector Leonardo Lopez, 34; Julio Estiven Gracia Ramirez, 31; and Andrés Alvaro Oviedo-Garcia, 22, were each charged with two counts of second degree murder, one count of kidnapping and one count of conspiracy to kidnap.  Oviedo-Garcia was also charged with two counts of assault.  Additionally, the grand jury indicted Wilson Daniel Peralta-Bocachica, 31, also a Colombian national, for his alleged efforts to destroy evidence associated with the murder of Special Agent Watson.

The defendants arrived in the United States on July 1, 2014, and made their initial appearance in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, today before United States Magistrate Judge Thomas Rawles Jones Jr.  A detention hearing is scheduled for July 9, 2014, before United States Magistrate Judge Ivan D. Davis.

According to the indictment, Figueroa, Valdes, Bello, Lopez, Gracia and Oviedo-Garcia were part of a kidnapping and robbery conspiracy that utilized taxi cabs in Bogotá, Colombia, to lure victims into a position where they could be attacked and robbed.  Once an intended victim entered a taxi cab, the driver of the taxi cab would signal other conspirators to commence the robbery and kidnapping operation.

The indictment alleges that on June 20, 2013, while he was working for the U.S. Mission in Colombia, Special Agent Watson entered a taxi cab operated by one of the defendants.  Special Agent Watson was then allegedly attacked by two other defendants – one who stunned Special Agent Watson with a stun gun and another who stabbed Special Agent Watson with a knife, resulting in his death.

On July 1, 2014, the Government of Colombia extradited the defendants to the United States.

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Latin Kings’ Leader of Little Village, Juan Amaya, Region Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for RICO Conspiracy and Related Gang Crimes

A high-ranking leader of the Latin Kings street gang was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison after being convicted of racketeering conspiracy and related charges involving narcotics trafficking and violence that plagued the Little Village neighborhood on the city’s west side. The defendant, JUAN AMAYA, 38, was convicted by a jury in March of this year after a trial in U.S. District Court.

In 2008, Amaya was the leader, or “Regional Inca,” of the Almighty Latin King Nation’s 26th Street Region, encompassing Little Village, the gang’s most important stronghold. Amaya was “in charge of over 1,000 soldiers ― many of whom were simply boys sent off to kill or be killed” under rules and policies he oversaw, the government argued in seeking a sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment.

Amaya was held responsible for participating in a conspiracy to commit murder, according to findings by U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, who imposed the sentence in Federal Court. Amaya must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence.

Last week, Nedal Issa, who was the Inca of the Latin Kings’ Cicero Section of the 26th Street Region and who pleaded guilty, cooperated, and testified as a government witness, was sentenced to nearly 17 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles Norgle. Amaya’s sentencing marks the last significant event in cases since 2008 that resulted in federal convictions of, and lengthy sentences for, Augustin Zambrano, the Latin Kings’ leader or “Corona;” Vicente Garcia, the gang’s “Supreme Regional Inca;” Fernando King, who preceded Garcia as second-incommand; and more than two dozen other top-ranking leaders.

“These sentences hold these defendants accountable for the barbaric enterprise known as the Latin Kings and for their roles in murder, attempted murder, shootings, beatings, drug trafficking, and other crimes,” said Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “I want to thank our local, state and federal law enforcement partners for their brave and outstanding work resulting in a major impact on this gang enterprise,” Mr. Fardon added.

The evidence at Amaya’s trial showed that by 2008, just a couple of years after he was released on parole from a 24-year sentence for a 1992 murder conviction, Amaya was promoted to Regional Inca of the Little Village Region, reporting only to Garcia and Zambrano and effectively running the gang at their behest. During his tenure, Amaya discussed 25 shootings committed by his underlings while expressing pride at the consistency of violence. All told, hundreds of shootings resulting from Latin Kings conduct occurred in Little Village during the period of Amaya’s prominence, according to the government.

Amaya was indicted separately in 2012 following the 2008 and 2009 indictments of more than 30 top leaders of the Latin Kings. All have been convicted and sentenced except for a few defendants who remain fugitives. From its origin and base in the west side Little Village neighborhood, the Latin Kings spread throughout Chicago and Illinois and established branches in other states, where local leaders acted with some autonomy but adhered to the rules and hierarchy of the Chicago gang, according to trial evidence and court records.

The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Robert J. Holley, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Carl Vasilko, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Chicago Police Department, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Chicago, and the Cook County Sheriff’s Police also had significant roles in the investigation, which was conducted through the federal High Intensity Drug-Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force and under the umbrella of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF).

In late 2006, ATF agents led an investigation that resulted in federal drug trafficking and firearms charges against 38 Latin Kings members and associates. In 2008, the FBI led an investigation that resulted in state and federal charges against 40 Latin Kings members and associates, including Zambrano and numerous co-defendants. In total, nearly 100 Latin Kings members and associates have faced state or federal charges since 2006. The convictions resulted from a sustained, coordinated effort by federal law enforcement agencies, working together with the Chicago Police Department and other state and local partners, to dismantle the hierarchy of the Latin Kings and other highly-organized, often violent Chicago street gangs.

Zambrano was the highest-ranking Latin King to be convicted and sentenced since Gustavo “Gino” Colon, who also holds the title of “Corona,” was sentenced to life in prison in 2000.

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Unrepentant Mob Boss with Big Connections and an Ear for Music Backs The Four Seasons #JerseyBoys

Back in the day, musicals were the end-all, be-all of cinematic success. Nowadays, they seem more like nostalgic sentiments of what once was. Jersey Boys is not a musical in the traditional sense, but it is a combination of that old-school emotion and a strangely modern sense of real life, with a profound respect for the music it celebrates — and gangsters, infidelity, a hell of a soundtrack and a lot of other things that are involved in quality entertainment.

Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young) is a young man with a gift. The gift of song. He possesses a voice that is unlike anything anyone has ever heard. While making ends meet working in a barber shop, he gets in good with Gyp DeCarlo (Christopher Walken), an unrepentant mob boss with big connections and an ear for music. With Gyp backing them, Frankie is recruited by his best friend, Tommy (Vincent Piazza), to sing in a band he has formed. Their rise to stardom is slow, but eventually they make it to the big time. Unfortunately, ties to bookies, flings with floozies and dealings with stone-cold gangsters spin the group on a reckless trip
down a rocky road.

Based on the acclaimed Broadway smash hit, Jersey Boys is a very well-done adaptation from stage to screen. Fans of Chicago will surely agree. With four Tony awards under its belt (including the 2006 best musical and best actor John Lloyd Young), the source material practically demanded the proverbial star treatment. And it got it. Director Clint Eastwood delivers hits as reliably as the Four Seasons, and this one does not disappoint. The film is a combination of That Thing You Do and Goodfellas, with a better soundtrack. Christopher Walken is especially good in an unusually subdued performance. The tendency for the main characters (except for Frankie Valli) to break the fourth wall and address the audience is strange at first, but it becomes not so much endearing as wanted, as the characters act as guides through a crazy ride.

The Four Seasons were rock stars before that term, even existed, and this film shows it, in the spotlights that adorn every shot of them on stage and in the shadowy actions that happen off stage. Watching Jersey Boys gives you a true sense of what it must have been like to come from nothing, get everything, and feel the desperate heartache as it falls from your grasp. Much like the music that Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons performed, Jersey Boys seems like bubble gum, but is really a jawbreaker. The music is timeless, the directing is wonderful and the performances are brilliant. Don’t be surprised when this gem resurfaces in theaters again right before Oscar time.

Thanks to Ian Murphy.

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