A massive law enforcement investigation into the dangerous, Costa Mesa-based Forming Kaos (FK) criminal street gang and its submissive work for the Mexican Mafia has resulted in eight more guilty pleas in recent weeks inside Orange County's Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse.
Those recently conceding defeat to the Santa Ana office of the U.S. Department of Justice as a result of the government's 2011 probe are:
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–Julio Vargas acknowledged that he illegally sold methamphetamine and weapons in Orange County, and faces a maximum punishment of 40 years in prison plus a $5 million fine. (Vargas was clueless that at least one of his buyers was a confidential law enforcement informant.)
–Ignacio Aflredo Marron (a.k.a. “Shadow” and “Negro”), a cocaine dealer, admitted he participated in racketeering activities and now faces a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
–David Perez confessed to federal prosecutors that he violated laws against a convicted felon possessing an Armalite Sterling AR-180 assault rifle and faces a maximum prison term of 10 years plus a $250,000 fine.
–Juan Moran, a cocaine and methamphetamine dealer, conceded criminal activity and faces a maximum of life in prison plus a $10 million fine.
–Edgar Marquez, a crack cocaine and methamphetamine dealer, admitted his guilt and faces a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
–Jose Carmen Parra (a.k.a “Droppy”), a methamphetamine and heroin dealer, acknowledged his racketeering role in the gang and faces a maximum term of 20 years in prison plus a fine of $250,000.
–Hector Manuel Medina, a cocaine dealer, confessed and faces a maximum prison trip of 40 years and a $5 million fine.
–Steven Larry Coble (a.k.a. “Casper”) agreed he's guilty of racketeering and faces a maximum prison term of 20 years plus a $250,000 fine.
Other hoodlums previously punished in the case include Kirk Ray Butterfas, 41 months; and David Joseph Jackovich (a.k.a. “Temper”), 100 months.
The status of numerous other defendants–including alleged ringleader Cesar Munguia (a.k.a. “Roach”)–remains officially unresolved, according to court records.
FBI special agents, Orange County Sheriff's Department deputies as well as Costa Mesa Police Department officers conducted the surveillance-heavy, Forming Kaos probe that was touted by law enforcement as a significant blow to Mexican Mafia enterprises in Southern California–a claim that likely puts smiles on the faces of still freely operating hoodlums in the region.
Forming Kaos members have participated in extortion, drug sales, murder and assaults, according to federal agents.
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CNN-featured investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; obtained one of the last exclusive prison interviews with Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins; won inclusion in Jeffrey Toobin’s The Best American Crime Reporting for his coverage of a white supremacist’s senseless murder of a beloved Vietnamese refugee; launched multi-year probes that resulted in the FBI arrests and convictions of the top three ranking members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; and gained praise from New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing entrenched Southern California law enforcement corruption.