Ex-Leader Of LA Gang Sentenced To 25 Years For Racketeering

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The former leader of a notorious street gang in Los Angeles has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for racketeering involving killings of a rival gang member and one of his own underlings.

Federal prosecutors say 32-year-old Rudy Aguirre Jr. was sentenced Monday in federal court.

Aguirre pleaded guilty in July to one count of racketeering conspiracy. Aguirre admitted in a plea agreement that he killed a rival gang member in 1999 and authorized the 2008 killing of a fellow gang member who he thought was skimming money.

Aguirre is one of the last defendants to be sentenced in relation with a 2009 racketeering indictment that charged 88 linked to the Avenues street gang in Northeast Los Angeles, according to federal authorities. Nearly 90 gang members and their associates were indicted four years ago as part of a crackdown on the gang. The case alleged a host of crimes, including the 2008 murder of a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy.

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