Big Weasel Goes To The Big House

Another anti-gun advocate says one thing and does another. Are we surprised?

From the LA Times.

The founder of an antiviolence group called No Guns pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal weapons charges. Hector "Big Weasel" Marroquin is accused of selling an assault rifle, a machine gun, two pistols and two silencers to undercover federal agents last fall.

But he needed this armament to protect his family, in case he decided to invade El Salvador.

Marroquin, 51, of Downey, is a onetime member of the 18th Street gang who founded No Guns in 1996.

The 18th Street gang is one of the most violent criminal organizations to come out of the City of Los Angeles in the past forty years. It spans several states and crosses international borders.

No Guns received $1.5 million from the city as a subcontractor on anti-gang efforts, but its contract was canceled last year.

The same people who were advocating for Tookie Williams must have hired this jackass to run anti-gang activities. It's like hiring a child molestor to babysit your kids.

But isn't this a lovely business model? Check it out.

1) You sell guns to the gangs that you were hired to eliminate.

2) When the gang shoots people with the guns you sold to them, you go back for to the idiots in City Hall and ask for more money to run your anti-gang gig because the gang problem is getting worse.

3) Then you sell more guns to that same gang because now their people are getting whacked by the friends of the people of the other gang they whacked so they need more guns to whack them back.

Sweeeeeeeeeet.

And the liberals say that the tobacco industry is dangerous.

Marroquin is charged with three counts of manufacture, distribution and transport for sale of an unlawful assault weapon, along with one count each of machine gun conversion and possession of a silencer. He remains free on $260,000 bail.

Now where do you suppose he got that kind of money to put up for bail? Sure, California taxpayers, who else? And who supported this knucklehead?

His champions included former state Sen. Tom Hayden.

This just gets better and better.

But some law enforcement officials believed that Marroquin was a front man for the Mexican Mafia prison gang and that NO GUNS was a facade for illegal activity and a channel for public funds.

One was Richard Valdemar, a retired sheriff's sergeant and expert on gangs who led an investigation that resulted in the first federal racketeering trial of Mexican Mafia members; it resulted in the conviction of 13. Valdemar said the Mexican Mafia has a long history of using anti-gang and drug rehabilitation groups as fronts to acquire public funds.

"This is a major part of their operation," said Valdemar, whom Marroquin unsuccessfully sued for defamation of character in 2002.

Valdemar said he and others voiced these concerns to the Sheriff's Department and the city of Los Angeles.

Hee! Hee! The cops knew what was going on with these so called advocate groups, but did the City listen? Did the Sheriff's Department listen?

Oops.... who is the Sheriff? Is he the guy that completely ignored a court order and released Paris Hilton after three days in the slammer? Oh, that Sheriff.

Nevermind.

As part of its gang intervention efforts, the city through its L.A. Bridges program contracted with Toberman Settlement House, a Harbor-area social services agency, which in turn hired NO GUNS in 2003.

Bill Martinez, director of gang intervention programs for Toberman, said NO GUNS was hired because it was the only group in South Los Angeles working with Latino gangs. Over the next three years, NO GUNS collected more than $1.5 million in city funds as a subcontractor.

Marroquin's organization was contracted to help find job training for gang members and to mediate cease-fires, said Angela Estell of the city's Community Development Department.

I wonder what kind of training the Latino gang members received? Based on Marroquin's past experience, let's see what he has to offer.

Marroquin and his family have a long history of run-ins with police.

In 1998, Marroquin was tried and acquitted on illegal weapons charges. At the time, he was on probation for brandishing a gun at sheriff's deputies who had gone to his house three years earlier in response to a domestic disturbance call.

In 2001, the charred body of Hector Romero, the boyfriend of Marroquin's daughter, Charleeda, was found near Wrightwood, Valdemar said.According to several Marroquin family members, Romero was playing Russian roulette and shot himself to death.

They allegedly drove the body to the Wrightwood area of San Bernardino County, where gasoline was poured on Romero's crotch and ignited, said Valdemar, who participated in the investigation. San Bernardino sheriff's homicide
detectives eventually filed the case as a suicide and charged Charleeda Marroquin with mutilating a body, Valdemar said.

During the investigation, police searched Marroquin Sr.'s house and found knives and police batons — a violation of his probation — as well as 18th Street gang writings. Marroquin was charged with a probation violation.

Valdemar said his last contact with Marroquin was in 2003, when Marroquin moved to Cudahy. He said Marroquin began taxing Cudahy gang members and drug dealers, claiming authority from the Mexican Mafia.

Sergio "Checo" Villa, a local gang leader with his own mafia ties, objected, Valdemar said. Villa put together a crew to kill Marroquin, which included a gang member who was a Sheriff's Department informant, he said. Fearing that the informant might kill Marroquin, Valdemar said he told Marroquin of Villa's plans.

"He thinks I'm going to kill him," Valdemar said. "I said, 'I'm not here to hurt you. But you're in trouble. They're going to kill you.' He's says, 'It's just a misunderstanding.'

"Several days later, Villa was shot dead on a street in Cudahy, according to a county coroner's report. The homicide remains unsolved.

This guy is just a fount of wisdom to gang members. And what's this tax crap?

Tax collection is another area of criminal activity where 18th Street is well established. Typically, in an area that is claimed as territory by 18th Street, gang members will collect a tax from any business: legitimate or criminal. The potential taxpayers include street vendors, shop owners, prostitutes, and drug dealers, as well as the businesses which exist in the neighborhood.

Members of 18th Street then threaten to kill any individual who refuses to pay the tax. In 1994 alone, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office prosecuted 30 murders that were the result of hits made by 18th Street gang members for failure to pay taxes.

When the Mob did it, it was called extortion. Well, that's the Left Coast for ya.

Anyone wanna hire Big Weasel as a tax consultant? Or a fire prevention specialist?