Imprisoned Mexican Mafia Member Pleads Not Guilty
(CBS) LOS ANGELES An imprisoned Mexican Mafia member pleaded not guilty Tuesday to federal charges alleging he controlled two cliques of the 18th Street gang from behind bars.
Ruben Castro, 46, is serving a life term in federal prison for a 1997 racketeering conviction.
Prosecutors allege the two gang cliques -- the Shatto Park Locos and the Hoover Locos -- operated as a criminal enterprise that used violence and intimidation to control the drug trade in the Mid-Wilshire, Koreatown, Pico-Union and MacArthur Park areas of Los Angeles.
A cut of the money allegedly went to Castro.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder.