Frank C. Girardot
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_20094700#ixzz1o9QAKEgQ
Al "the Suit" Cavazos, back row third from right, and other members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club pose outside the Taj Mahal Casino. Al's brother Ruben "Doc" Cavazos, back row third from left, is serving a federal prison sentence for racketeering in a 2008 case brought by the ATF and Montebello PD. (Courtesy Al Cavazos)
WEST COVINA - When Al "The Suit" Cavazos rolled with the Mongols times were good.
Booze, girls and respect came with the territory. He hung out with celebrities and movie stars, and The Suit loved every minute of it.
But for Al The Suit, the party ended in October 2008. That's when Cavazos believes he and 78 other Mongols were set up by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and a Montebello cop who allegedly falsified a police report.
Officials from both agencies deny the claim.
"Once we saw that they could do whatever they wanted, we all realized it was probably better to plead guilty than go to trial," said Cavazos, who pleaded guilty to a drug charge and did eight months' federal time in the Montebello jail.
A spokesman for the ATF questioned why Al and his brother, former Mongols president Ruben "Doc" Cavazos, serving an 11-year racketeering sentence, would come forward with concerns about the case now.
"They have nothing to lose and all of a sudden he now doesn't like his sentencing?" ATF spokesman Christian Hoffman said.
Booze, girls and respect came with the territory. He hung out with celebrities and movie stars, and The Suit loved every minute of it.
But for Al The Suit, the party ended in October 2008. That's when Cavazos believes he and 78 other Mongols were set up by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and a Montebello cop who allegedly falsified a police report.
Officials from both agencies deny the claim.
"Once we saw that they could do whatever they wanted, we all realized it was probably better to plead guilty than go to trial," said Cavazos, who pleaded guilty to a drug charge and did eight months' federal time in the Montebello jail.
A spokesman for the ATF questioned why Al and his brother, former Mongols president Ruben "Doc" Cavazos, serving an 11-year racketeering sentence, would come forward with concerns about the case now.
"They have nothing to lose and all of a sudden he now doesn't like his sentencing?" ATF spokesman Christian Hoffman said.
"I would let the evidence of the investigation speak for itself."
In all 78 members of the gang were prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to varying federal prison terms after entering guilty pleas in a case the feds titled "Black Rain."
Their 100-page indictment details a list of alleged drug dealing, extortion, assault and attempted murder against members of the group.
The Suit says a key element of the racketeering indictment rested on false testimony from Montebello police Sgt. Chris Cervantes. Cavazos claims Cervantes lied about a shooting he witnessed in the parking lot of Nicola's - a Commerce topless bar - in April 2007.
"I want to go in front of a judge and have the judge ask who's telling the truth," Al Cavazos said. "I want the judge to make sure that whoever is lying will go to jail. That's what I'm asking for. And, I know it won't be me."
A complaint to authorities about the officer has led the Montebello Police Department to conduct an inquiry into Cervantes' conduct, Montebello police Capt. Brad Keller said.
The shooting
Nicola's is an old school topless bar situated just off Whittier Boulevard on South Gerhart Avenue, just west of the Montebello border.
On the night of April 7, 2007, knowing the Mongols planned to party at Nicola's, Cervantes and his partner ATF Special Agent John Ciccone set up a surveillance outside, the officer would testify in court several months later.
Cervantes, a one-time LAPD officer who transferred to Montebello after five years working the Southeast Division, said he saw dozens of motorcycles in the parking lot and several people loitering in the hours before the shooting.
As Al Cavazos remembers it, Mongols rode out to Nicola's to celebrate a member's birthday. By night's end the bar was full. But, it wasn't only Mongols partying. Members of the Maravilla street gang had also descended on Nicola's.
At some point, one of the Mongols left with a girl. He was followed by one of the members of Maravilla. There was a shooting. Two men were wounded.
To federal prosecutors the incident at Nicola's indicated the Mongols were violent and individual members would stop at nothing to further the interests of their gang.
When released in October 2008, the racketeering indictment alleged Danny "Steaky" Maldonado shot two members of Maravilla identified as "M.G." and "Z.S."
To support the claim, a federal grand jury alleged that right after the shooting, other members of the Mongols drove "Steaky" to San Diego so he wouldn't be caught.
About the same time, prosecutors claimed Mongols' leader "Doc" Cavazos told other members to prepare for retaliation from Maravilla.
In a February 2008 preliminary hearing for Maldonado, Cervantes, the Montebello police officer who witnessed the shooting, was asked how many shooters and how many guns he saw. He replied one of each.
But, a Mongol witness that saw the shooting said there were two shooters, according to a March 3, 2008 ATF report prepared for Ciccone and approved by his supervisor Eric Harden. A Mongols member identified only as "Check" from the Puente Chapter of the motorcycle gang told an undercover ATF agent there were two shooters, according to the ATF report. "Check" was never called to testify.
Ruben "Doc" Cavazos, in a letter to this newspaper, said the second shooter, whom he identified as "Danger," was treated at a nearby hospital for a gunshot wound to "his arm." Doc also claims there was evidence at the scene including blood splatter, shell casings and witness testimony that would have put the lie to Cervantes' court testimony if it ever came out.
Aftermath
It's the apparent inconsistencies that have Al The Suit concerned.
"It's just not right what they did," he said.
Pointing to a stack of dozens of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department field interrogation cards from the night of the shooting, Al believes that all 77 witnesses would tell a different story if they were ever interviewed about the shooting.
Careful to point out that he was not conducting an internal affairs investigation, Keller said the results of the Montebello inquiry will be fowarded to the District Attorney's office for review.
"He's disputing the facts that were already tried on this case," Keller said. "We took the time to talk to him to find out where he was going with it. But the outcome of the original case showed we did everything right. The evidence proved we followed the law. And, it's over."
Al Cavazos reiterated that the prospect of facing what he described as "dirty cops" and "B.S. testimony" in court ultimately drove everyone in the gang to plead guilty.
In his letter, Ruben, now confined at California City near San Diego, gave a similar assessment.
"These cases are built on lies by the ATF and supported by informants who either (are) trying to save themselves or a loved one," he wrote. "No one need take our word for this. They need only to review the evidence. As long as the ATF uses the words `Drugs, Gangs, Hate Crimes or Terrorism,' a group or individual stands no chance of a fair trial. For this reason most federal cases plead out."
You can read the original federal indictment of the Mongols online at http://tinyurl.com/7wx9q9f
frank.girardot@sgvn.com
twitter.com/frankgirardot
facebook.com/crimesceneblog
In all 78 members of the gang were prosecuted, convicted and sentenced to varying federal prison terms after entering guilty pleas in a case the feds titled "Black Rain."
Their 100-page indictment details a list of alleged drug dealing, extortion, assault and attempted murder against members of the group.
The Suit says a key element of the racketeering indictment rested on false testimony from Montebello police Sgt. Chris Cervantes. Cavazos claims Cervantes lied about a shooting he witnessed in the parking lot of Nicola's - a Commerce topless bar - in April 2007.
"I want to go in front of a judge and have the judge ask who's telling the truth," Al Cavazos said. "I want the judge to make sure that whoever is lying will go to jail. That's what I'm asking for. And, I know it won't be me."
A complaint to authorities about the officer has led the Montebello Police Department to conduct an inquiry into Cervantes' conduct, Montebello police Capt. Brad Keller said.
The shooting
Nicola's is an old school topless bar situated just off Whittier Boulevard on South Gerhart Avenue, just west of the Montebello border.
On the night of April 7, 2007, knowing the Mongols planned to party at Nicola's, Cervantes and his partner ATF Special Agent John Ciccone set up a surveillance outside, the officer would testify in court several months later.
Cervantes, a one-time LAPD officer who transferred to Montebello after five years working the Southeast Division, said he saw dozens of motorcycles in the parking lot and several people loitering in the hours before the shooting.
As Al Cavazos remembers it, Mongols rode out to Nicola's to celebrate a member's birthday. By night's end the bar was full. But, it wasn't only Mongols partying. Members of the Maravilla street gang had also descended on Nicola's.
At some point, one of the Mongols left with a girl. He was followed by one of the members of Maravilla. There was a shooting. Two men were wounded.
To federal prosecutors the incident at Nicola's indicated the Mongols were violent and individual members would stop at nothing to further the interests of their gang.
When released in October 2008, the racketeering indictment alleged Danny "Steaky" Maldonado shot two members of Maravilla identified as "M.G." and "Z.S."
To support the claim, a federal grand jury alleged that right after the shooting, other members of the Mongols drove "Steaky" to San Diego so he wouldn't be caught.
About the same time, prosecutors claimed Mongols' leader "Doc" Cavazos told other members to prepare for retaliation from Maravilla.
In a February 2008 preliminary hearing for Maldonado, Cervantes, the Montebello police officer who witnessed the shooting, was asked how many shooters and how many guns he saw. He replied one of each.
But, a Mongol witness that saw the shooting said there were two shooters, according to a March 3, 2008 ATF report prepared for Ciccone and approved by his supervisor Eric Harden. A Mongols member identified only as "Check" from the Puente Chapter of the motorcycle gang told an undercover ATF agent there were two shooters, according to the ATF report. "Check" was never called to testify.
Ruben "Doc" Cavazos, in a letter to this newspaper, said the second shooter, whom he identified as "Danger," was treated at a nearby hospital for a gunshot wound to "his arm." Doc also claims there was evidence at the scene including blood splatter, shell casings and witness testimony that would have put the lie to Cervantes' court testimony if it ever came out.
Aftermath
It's the apparent inconsistencies that have Al The Suit concerned.
"It's just not right what they did," he said.
Pointing to a stack of dozens of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department field interrogation cards from the night of the shooting, Al believes that all 77 witnesses would tell a different story if they were ever interviewed about the shooting.
Careful to point out that he was not conducting an internal affairs investigation, Keller said the results of the Montebello inquiry will be fowarded to the District Attorney's office for review.
"He's disputing the facts that were already tried on this case," Keller said. "We took the time to talk to him to find out where he was going with it. But the outcome of the original case showed we did everything right. The evidence proved we followed the law. And, it's over."
Al Cavazos reiterated that the prospect of facing what he described as "dirty cops" and "B.S. testimony" in court ultimately drove everyone in the gang to plead guilty.
In his letter, Ruben, now confined at California City near San Diego, gave a similar assessment.
"These cases are built on lies by the ATF and supported by informants who either (are) trying to save themselves or a loved one," he wrote. "No one need take our word for this. They need only to review the evidence. As long as the ATF uses the words `Drugs, Gangs, Hate Crimes or Terrorism,' a group or individual stands no chance of a fair trial. For this reason most federal cases plead out."
You can read the original federal indictment of the Mongols online at http://tinyurl.com/7wx9q9f
frank.girardot@sgvn.com
twitter.com/frankgirardot
facebook.com/crimesceneblog
Al "the Suit" Cavazos believes he and other members of the Mongols Motorcycle club were railroaded by federal agents and the Montebello PD. (Courtesy Al Cavazos)
