Prison gang members to plead guilty in murders Dennis Wagner The Arizona Republic Dec. 15, 2005 12:00 AM For 2½ years, federal prosecutors have worked to convict members of a notorious Arizona crime ring on dozens of charges, including the murder of government witnesses, racketeering, drug dealing and money laundering. Today, eight defendants linked to the New Mexican Mafia prison gang are expected to admit guilt during a U.S. District Court hearing in Phoenix and to escape the death sentence in return for their pleas. The defendants include Raymond O. Llamas of the prison gang as well Luis A. and Felipe N. Cisneros, brothers who oversaw an East Valley narcotics and auto-theft network. Besides killing as many as eight prospective witnesses, gang members tried to put hits out against a Phoenix detective who worked the investigation and against the state prisons director. The defendants who are expected to plead guilty were among 13 people first indicted in 2003 by a federal grand jury in New Mexico. The case was shifted to Arizona under new indictments because of security concerns. So far, at least nine judges have been assigned. One of them even requested bulletproof windows for her courtroom. Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys responded to interview requests Wednesday. However, a court calendar shows change-of-plea hearings scheduled throughout today before U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton. The government has pursued the death penalty against four of the defendants. In late November, prosecutors advised Bolton that, in conjunction with plea agreements, that request could be withdrawn. At the same hearing, the judge ruled that defendants would be required to recount their criminal acts personally, rather than through counsel, as part of any plea agreement. The trial was scheduled to start Jan. 10 after more than two years of legal wrangling over a number of issues, including the constitutionality of the Federal Death Penalty Act and the integrity of the grand-jury system. The indictment contains murder counts for the 2000 slaying of New Mexico prison guard Jose Moreno Sr. and his teenage son, Jose Jr., as well as the 1996 killing of 26-year-old Aaron Romero outside a Mesa auto shop. Federal prosecutors have ascribed at least five other killings to the group. In one case, a prospective witness in Arizona survived several bullet wounds only to be gunned down after he was moved out of state in protective custody. In 1998, members of the New Mexican Mafia, also known as New Eme, failed to assassinate Terry Stewart, then director of the state Department of Corrections. The gunmen were scared off by the chance appearance of Phoenix police officers at the Valley restaurant where he was eating, police said. The next year, gang members were implicated in the killing of Chandler police Officer James Snedigar after a botched robbery. Two men were charged in the case in 2000. In 2003, three defendants were charged with conspiring to murder Phoenix police Detective Mike Maya, who was a member of the FBI's street gangs task force in Phoenix and was spearheading the case against them. Llamas and the Cisneroses were among 34 gang members arrested in 2000 during raids by a task force of 250 local, state and federal law officers. Then-County Attorney Rick Romley described New Eme as "the most dangerous gang in Arizona." Most of the defendants were convicted in state court and have been serving prison sentences while awaiting the District Court case. U.S. prosecutors obtained permission from Attorney General John Ashcroft to dismiss the New Mexico indictment after concluding that federal court facilities there were unsafe for such a trial. "Even among death penalty cases, the present case is exceptional because of its history of murdered potential witnesses and the threat to current potential witnesses," they wrote. The Sandra Day O'Connor Courthouse in Phoenix is among the nation's most secure federal trial facilities and features a courtroom with enhanced protective measures. Besides the Cisneros brothers and Llamas, those scheduled for change-of-plea hearings today were identified as Paul Eppinger, Angel Rivera, Richard Trujillo, Lorena Cisneros and Juan R. Reyes. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> 1.2 million kids a year are victims of human trafficking. Stop slavery. http://us.click.yahoo.com/U6CDDD/izNLAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
