48 Face Charges In Largest Ever Santa Clara County Gang Indictment
SAN JOSE (KCBS)— Grand jury indictments were handed down against 48 suspected members of the Nuestra Familia gang in Santa Clara County on Tuesday.
According to District Attorney Jeff Rosen, it's the largest gang indictment in Santa Clara history. With the number of defendants and 77 charges, Rosen said it's also one of the largest gang indictments in California history.
The violent gang has been run out of California's prisons since the 1960s, but is suspected for several dozen crimes, including murder and attempted murder, in the Silicon Valley over the last three years.
"This gang organization, the NF, and their associates peddled methamphetamine and cocaine in our neighborhoods, robbed six of our banks with guns and fake explosives, shot and stabbed a man and threatened witnesses. They even ordered the death of a man and then, on our streets, murdered him," Rosen said, referencing the August 13, 2012 murder of affiliated gang-member Martin Chacon, who was executed in San Jose while sitting in the driver's seat of a car.
In the 99-page indictment against the NF, the crimes alleged occurred during the time frame of June 10, 2010 through May 30, 2013. In all, 38 men and 10 women charged.
"This is a sophisticated, complex criminal organization that required a sophisticated, multi-faceted law enforcement and prosecutorial response," Rosen said in a statement.
Rosen commended the FBI's efforts, as well as other agencies, in the indictment, which brings evidence to the grand jury.
District Attorney Announces Largest Gang Indictment in Santa Clara History
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