Mexican Mafia suspects charged with shaking down L.A. County business, ordering shooting

This is read by an automated voice.Please report any issues or inconsistencies here.

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred Jose Argumedo’s nickname is “Humble,” but authorities say his approach to collecting money was anything but.When a Pomona business owner balked at paying for protection, Argumedo showed up with a gun and loaded the business’ property into a U-Haul truck, prosecutors wrote in a complaint filed earlier this year.

In a second complaint unsealed Wednesday, authorities allege that a few months after the U-Haul incident, a gang member fired a barrage of bullets at a man who owed Argumedo money.Argumedo, a member of Highland Park’s Avenues gang, has served prison time for attempted murder and robbery, according to court records and a law enforcement source who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.In the complaint against Argumedo, prosecutors allege he was collecting money for the Mexican Mafia, a prison organization with influence over Latino street gangs across California.

Argumedo’s lawyer, Andrew Stein, called the authorities “chickens—” for also arresting Argumedo’s wife, who recently gave birth to his child, and tearing up his elderly father’s home during a search warrant.Argumedo’s wife is charged with conveying some of the extortion demands; his father has not been accused of a crime.

“They want to lock him up for the rest of his life based not on what he did, but on who he is — or who they allegedly think he is,” Stein said of his client, who has pleaded not guilty.California When aspiring Mexican Mafia member Ezequiel Romo ordered a series of murders from prison, he told underlings he intended to purge their Blythe Street gang of weaknesses.

Instead, authorities say, the plan backfired.Argumedo and eight others are charged with conspiring to commit extortion, murder and other crimes in Pomona, a city of 150,000 that has struggled to shed its reputation as a Mexican Mafi...