LOS ANGELES -- A former Pacoima gang member who became director of a program that finds jobs for other ex-gang members was charged Wednesday with possession of methamphetamine.
Mario Antonio Corona, director of job development for the Communities in Schools anti-gang program, is facing one count each of transportation of a controlled substance and possession for sale of methamphetamine.
Communities in Schools is one of the largest anti-gang programs in the San Fernando Valley, according to the district attorney's office.
Corona, 30, was arrested Feb. 28 in Sylmar when officers allegedly found a pound of meth in his vehicle. He was released on $40,000 bail the next day, but he was re-arrested on an immigration hold and he remains in federal custody, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Because he is in federal custody, an arraignment date was not immediately set.
Corona was a one-time gang member known as "Big Spider" who later earned an undergraduate degree from Cal State Northridge and a master's in social work from USC and became one of the most respected gang-intervention activist in Los Angeles.
"I am blown away. I didn't see this coming," Bobby Arias, president of Communities in Schools, told the Los Angeles Times after Corona was arrested.
"He was getting ready to go to law school," Arias said. "He wanted to buy a house. I don't know what happened.... He was 110 percent committed to this population. I'm at a loss for words as to this whole situation. This is a human tragedy."
Mario Antonio Corona, director of job development for the Communities in Schools anti-gang program, is facing one count each of transportation of a controlled substance and possession for sale of methamphetamine.
Communities in Schools is one of the largest anti-gang programs in the San Fernando Valley, according to the district attorney's office.
Corona, 30, was arrested Feb. 28 in Sylmar when officers allegedly found a pound of meth in his vehicle. He was released on $40,000 bail the next day, but he was re-arrested on an immigration hold and he remains in federal custody, according to the District Attorney's Office.
Because he is in federal custody, an arraignment date was not immediately set.
Corona was a one-time gang member known as "Big Spider" who later earned an undergraduate degree from Cal State Northridge and a master's in social work from USC and became one of the most respected gang-intervention activist in Los Angeles.
"I am blown away. I didn't see this coming," Bobby Arias, president of Communities in Schools, told the Los Angeles Times after Corona was arrested.
"He was getting ready to go to law school," Arias said. "He wanted to buy a house. I don't know what happened.... He was 110 percent committed to this population. I'm at a loss for words as to this whole situation. This is a human tragedy."
