LOS ANGELES—A member of the Pueblo
Bishops Bloods, a criminal street gang that had used violence and intimidation
to control the Pueblo del Rio housing project in South Los Angeles, pleaded
guilty this morning to federal racketeering charges, specifically admitting
that he was involved in the murders of two people not affiliated with any gang
in attacks that had been unsolved prior to a federal RICO indictment, announced
United States Attorney André Birotte, Jr., whose office is handling the
prosecution of the case.
Marquis Edwards, 22, of Los Angeles, who
was known by the moniker “Baby Uzi,” pleaded guilty this morning and
acknowledged participating in separate shooting attacks that killed a teenager
in 2006 and a woman in 2007. Edwards also acknowledged participating in an
attack in which bullets were fired at a group mourning the death of the youth
killed by members of the Pueblo Bishops Bloods gang.
Appearing this morning before United
States District Judge S. James Otero, Edwards admitted that he and other Pueblo
Bishops gang members participated in a September 4, 2006 morning bush attack on
a group of young people. Edwards jumped out of one of the vehicles involved in
the attack, chased the victims and shot 15-year-old Jose Maldonado at close
range. Maldonado—a high school honors student who was not affiliated with any
gang—bled to death on his own driveway. Two other Latino youths with Maldonado
were also shot and injured during the shooting.
On the night Maldonado was killed,
Edwards and another gang member returned to the site of the murder, where
family members had gathered for a vigil and to clean up Maldonado’s blood. The
other gang member shot into the vigil crowd, injuring one.
Edwards also admitted to participating
in a March 18, 2007 attack in which a 35-year-old single mother was fatally
shot. Edwards and other Pueblo Bishop Bloods gang members in a convoy
surrounded a van driven by Laura Sanchez, who yelled at her 18-year-old son to
get down, which likely saved his life. Sanchez was struck by multiple bullets
and died that night. Her son was able to escape the car and survive. Neither
Sanchez nor her son had any known gang ties.
All three shooting incidents were
unsolved prior to a federal racketeering indictment that was unsealed in August
2010 (see: http://www.justice.gov/usao/cac/Pressroom/pr2010/122.html). After
the initial indictment, which did not name Edwards, federal prosecutors,
special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and officers from the
Los Angles Police Department continued to investigate the gang, specifically
looking at unsolved murders and other violence. With additional evidence, a
grand jury issued a second indictment in May 25, 2011 that charged Edwards and
other gang members and alleged new crimes.
Edwards becomes the fourth Pueblo Bishop
gang member to plead guilty to racketeering offenses and admit first-degree
murder allegations in the Maldonado and Sanchez killings. Prior to the federal
RICO indictment, three of these four defendants were uncharged in relation to
the murders. Each now faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for their
roles in the murders.
Edwards is set to be sentenced by Judge
Otero on August 20.
A total of 45 defendants were charged in
the federal indictments. With Edwards guilty plea today, 33 of those defendants
have now been convicted; three are in state custody, and two are fugitives. A
trial for seven remaining defendants is pending and scheduled to begin on June
5 before Judge Otero.
This case is the result of an
investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Los Angeles
Police Department, Newton Division; the United States Department of Housing and
Urban Development-Office of Inspector General; and the Los Angeles County
District Attorney’s Office.
Contacts:
Assistant United States Attorney Mack
Jenkins
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task
Force
(213) 894-2091
Assistant United States Attorney
Christopher K. Pelham
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task
Force
(213) 894-0610
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