{"id":11555,"date":"2015-04-27T17:55:49","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T00:55:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555"},"modified":"2015-04-27T17:55:49","modified_gmt":"2015-04-28T00:55:49","slug":"gang-leader-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-plus-55-years-for-drug-dealing-and-gun-offenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555","title":{"rendered":"Gang Leader sentenced to Life in Prison Plus 55 Years for Drug Dealing and Gun Offenses"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/u.s.DISTRICT-COURT-CENTRAL-DISTRICT.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-2324\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/u.s.DISTRICT-COURT-CENTRAL-DISTRICT-150x150.png\" alt=\"u.s.DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>LOS ANGELES<\/strong> \u2013\u2013 The leader of the Oxnard-based<strong> Colonia Chiques<\/strong> street gang was sentenced Monday to life without parole in federal prison, plus an additional 55-year consecutive term.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Luis Manuel Tapia<\/strong>, 39, of Ojai, in Ventura County, was the leader of the Colonia Chiques and a Mexican Mafia associate.<\/p>\n<p>In September, Tapia was found guilty of each of the 26 federal charges filed against him. Tapia was convicted for a host of narcotics and weapons offenses, including leading a continuing criminal enterprise, officials said.<\/p>\n<p>Tapia already had two narcotics convictions \u2013 one involving cocaine, and the second involving methamphetamine \u2013 in Ventura County Superior Court. Under federal law, the third drug trafficking conviction last year in federal court brought a mandatory life sentence, officials said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>According to federal authorities, these are the facts and circumstances surrounding this case:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tapia was the leader of the Colonia Chiques and was one of Ventura County\u2019s most notorious criminals, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by federal prosecutors.<\/li>\n<li>Tapia was a big time methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine trafficker who had authority to act on behalf of the Mexican Mafia.<\/li>\n<li>Tapia\u2019s importation of high-quality narcotics from Mexico let him\u00a0make\u00a0drug\u00a0transactions worth as much as $1 million.<\/li>\n<li>During a two-week trial in federal court in Los Angeles, it showed that Tapia was deeply involved in the business of running the Colonia Chiques and was personally involved in the sale of firearms and narcotics.<\/li>\n<li>During a series of secretly recorded meetings with Tapia, he described himself as the \u201cCEO\u201d of his enterprise, comparing it to Walmart because he supplied a wide array of contraband and always guaranteed his product\u2019s quality.<\/li>\n<li>In October 2011, Tapia orchestrated a $200,000 drug transaction that involved about 10 pounds of nearly pure methamphetamine.<\/li>\n<li>During the investigation, authorities conducted an undercover operation in Las Vegas in which an undercover FBI agent posed as a senior member of the Italian mob and negotiated to have Tapia supply the Las Vegas syndicate of the Italian mob with up to 20 pounds of highly pure methamphetamine every month.<\/li>\n<li>Jurors also heard Tapia, in a video recording, bragging that his heroin was so strong that it had \u201ckilled six people\u201d \u2013 and that this was a \u201cgood advertisement\u201d for his drug operation.<\/li>\n<li>Tapia also explained how his high-quality methamphetamine \u2013 which lab results confirmed was often 100 percent pure \u2013 was obtained from Mexican drug cartels.<\/li>\n<li>In another video recording, Tapia was heard directing a large assembly of younger Colonia Chiques gang members to monopolize their drug selling territory, to seek out and kill informants \u2013 something Tapia had bragged he had previously done personally \u2013 and to heed \u00a0the orders of the Mexican Mafia.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Tapia was specifically found guilty of leading a continuing criminal enterprise that distributed at least 2,200 pounds of methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license, 10 substantive counts of drug distribution involving heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, three counts of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, seven counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and the illegal transfer of a fully-automatic machine gun.<\/p>\n<p>Counting the machinegun, investigators seized 19 firearms from Tapia, including an AR-15 assault rifle, a custom built AK-47 with a bayonet, and a pistol grip sawed-off shotgun, officials stated.<\/p>\n<p>Four of Tapia\u2019s co-defendants \u2013 <strong>Diana Zamora<\/strong>, <strong>Edgar Aguilar<\/strong>, <strong>Roger Armendariz<\/strong> and <strong>Jaime Cardenas<\/strong> \u2013 plead guilty to conspiring traffic narcotics and\/or firearms and were sentenced to up to 10 years in federal prison, officials stated.<\/p>\n<p>An unknown male, known only as \u201cPancho,\u201d who allegedly supplied narcotics to Tapia, is a fugitive believed to be in Mexico, according to officials.<\/p>\n<p>Tapia\u2019s sentencing concludes the second phase of a three-phase investigation called Operation \u201cSupernova,\u201d which was conducted by the <strong>Ventura County Federal Violent Crimes Task Force<\/strong> \u2013 made up of agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and officers with the Oxnard Police Department in Ventura County, official said.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES \u2013\u2013 The leader of the Oxnard-based Colonia Chiques street gang was sentenced Monday to life without parole in federal prison, plus an additional 55-year consecutive term. Luis Manuel Tapia, 39,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,3],"tags":[1334,873],"class_list":["post-11555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-colonia-chiques","tag-luis-manuel-tapia"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gang Leader Sentenced to Life for Drug and Gun Offenses<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"California gang leader sentenced to life for drug and gun offenses\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gang Leader Sentenced to Life for Drug and Gun Offenses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"California gang leader sentenced to life for drug and gun offenses\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Justice Notebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-04-28T00:55:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Luis-Manuel-Tapia.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"665\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=11555#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=11555\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Raul\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\"},\"headline\":\"Gang Leader sentenced to Life in Prison Plus 55 Years for Drug Dealing and Gun Offenses\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-28T00:55:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=11555\"},\"wordCount\":672,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=11555#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/Luis-Manuel-Tapia.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Colonia Chiques\",\"Luis Manuel Tapia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Home Main Slider\",\"U.S. Department of Justice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=11555#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=11555\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=11555\",\"name\":\"Gang Leader Sentenced to Life for Drug and Gun Offenses\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=11555#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=11555#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/Luis-Manuel-Tapia.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-04-28T00:55:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"California gang leader sentenced to life for drug and gun offenses\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=11555\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=11555#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/Luis-Manuel-Tapia.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/04\\\/Luis-Manuel-Tapia.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":665},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"description\":\"&quot;Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.&quot; \u2014  Thomas Jefferson\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"width\":675,\"height\":231,\"caption\":\"American Justice Notebook\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\",\"name\":\"Raul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Raul\"},\"description\":\"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Gang Leader Sentenced to Life for Drug and Gun Offenses","description":"California gang leader sentenced to life for drug and gun offenses","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Gang Leader Sentenced to Life for Drug and Gun Offenses","og_description":"California gang leader sentenced to life for drug and gun offenses","og_url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555","og_site_name":"American Justice Notebook","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook","article_published_time":"2015-04-28T00:55:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":665,"url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Luis-Manuel-Tapia.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Raul","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Raul","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555"},"author":{"name":"Raul","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0"},"headline":"Gang Leader sentenced to Life in Prison Plus 55 Years for Drug Dealing and Gun Offenses","datePublished":"2015-04-28T00:55:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555"},"wordCount":672,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Luis-Manuel-Tapia.jpg","keywords":["Colonia Chiques","Luis Manuel Tapia"],"articleSection":["Home Main Slider","U.S. Department of Justice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555","name":"Gang Leader Sentenced to Life for Drug and Gun Offenses","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Luis-Manuel-Tapia.jpg","datePublished":"2015-04-28T00:55:49+00:00","description":"California gang leader sentenced to life for drug and gun offenses","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=11555#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Luis-Manuel-Tapia.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Luis-Manuel-Tapia.jpg","width":1000,"height":665},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","name":"American Justice Notebook","description":"&quot;Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.&quot; \u2014  Thomas Jefferson","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization","name":"American Justice Notebook","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","width":675,"height":231,"caption":"American Justice Notebook"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0","name":"Raul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","caption":"Raul"},"description":"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.","sameAs":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11555"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11563,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11555\/revisions\/11563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}