Smashed windows, threats and $800 a month: Witness details L.A. County gang extortion
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On the witness stand of a Pomona courtroom, the business owner told a bizarre and terrifying story.In July 2024, two men walked into his office holding guns, he testified with the help of a Mandarin interpreter.
Pointing their weapons at his chest, the pair demanded money.He told them he had none.
According to authorities, this was an old-fashioned shakedown carried out by the largest gang in the city, Pomona 12th Street.The Times is not identifying the witness over concerns about his safety.At a preliminary hearing in October, the business owner said the two men drove him to a bank and ordered him to withdraw cash.
He bluffed, saying he had no debit card.When the pair threatened to kill him if he didn’t come up with money, he called his son, who brought $1,000.
California Authorities say Manuel Quintero is a notorious Mexican Mafia figure nicknamed Snuffy long suspected of running rackets for the prison-based syndicate.The latest case against him involves an alleged plot to murder a rapper who survived a stabbing last year while jailed.One of the men said he would come by to pick up the same amount every month, the witness testified.
The man took down his phone number so he could “let me know when he will come to collect,” the business owner testified.In January, authorities arrested Gustavo Maldonado, 37, and Alexis Hernandez, 25, on charges of extortion, kidnapping and robbery.
Attorneys for the two, who have pleaded not guilty, didn’t return requests for comment.Their case follows the March conviction of Michael Lerma, 69, a reputed member of the Mexican Mafia who is originally from Pomona 12th Street.
Federal prosecutors charged that Lerma, who has been imprisoned for murder since 1981, oversaw all of Pomona’s gangs from his state prison cell.During his racketeering trial, witnesses testified Lerma’s underlings “taxed” drug dealers, thieves and other c...