Latin Kings Leader Sentenced to 16 Years

Angel Cordero Jr., leader of the Huntington branch of the Latin Kings street gang, was sentenced to 16 years in prison Wednesday.

He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sandra J. Feuerstein at the federal courthouse in Central Islip.

Cordero previously pleaded guilty to gang-related conspiracy to commit assaults with dangerous weapons, attempted assault with a dangerous weapon, and illegal possession of a firearm in connection with a crime of violence.

Co-defendant Edwin Morejon, a member of the Huntington Latin Kings, was also sentenced to 16 years’ imprisonment.

The sentences were announced Wednesday by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, George Venizelos, assistant director-in-charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, and Edward Webber, Suffolk County Police Department commissioner.

According to court documents, Cordero directed his fellow Latin Kings to use violence against anyone who disrespected the Latin Kings and encouraged members to instill fear of the Latin Kings in others.

The two-year investigation by the FBI Long Island Gang Task Force revealed that, in 2009 and early 2010, while under the leadership of Cordero, members of the Huntington gang shot four individuals they believed to be rival gang members and participated in multiple attempted shootings in Huntington Station.

One shooting, on Sept. 1, 2009, occurred near Jack Abrams Intermediate School in Huntington Station, which later closed to classes when parents expressed concern about safety in the neighborhood.

On Oct. 18, 2009, Morejon and a co-defendant fired several shots at two individuals, who they believed were members of the Southside Posse street gang, on Tenth Street in Huntington Station. One of the intended targets retrieved a shotgun and returned fire. During the exchange of fire, he was shot in the leg by Morejon’s co-defendant and hospitalized.

On March 11, 2010, Cordero shot at a group of individuals he believed to be members of the Crips street gang, who were standing in front of a strip mall in Huntington Station. No one was injured in the gunfire attack. Two weeks later, on March 25, 2010, Cordero and nine other members and associates of the Latin Kings were arrested by the FBI Gang Task Force in the first wave of
arrests in this case. In October 2010, nine additional members and associates of the Latin Kings were arrested in this case.

In total, 21 defendants pleaded guilty in this case for their participation in violent, gang related crimes on Long Island, including shootings, attempted shootings, conspiracy to commit murder, robbery, and firearms offenses. To date, 16 defendants have been sentenced and, of those, ten defendants have received sentences of ten or more years in prison.

“In his bid to own the streets of Huntington Station, Cordero turned those streets into a shooting gallery, unleashing gunfire throughout the community, including near a school. The sentences in this case make clear that gang members will not be permitted to turn neighborhoods on Long Island into battlefields, where residents fear for their safety,” Lynch said.

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nicole Boeckmann and Carrie N. Capwell.

The Sentenced Defendants:

ANGEL CORDERO, JR.
Sentence: 192 months
Age: 29

EDWIN MOREJON
Sentence: 192 months
Date of sentencing: 12/19/12
Age: 22

Previously sentenced:
JOSE SOSA
Sentence: 192 months
Date of sentencing: 10/23/12
Age: 24

ALBINO RODRIGUEZ
Sentence: 144 months
Date of sentencing: 12/17/12
Age: 20

LUIS G. HERNANDEZ
Sentence: 156 months
Date of sentencing: 9/12/12
Age: 28

LUIS LEMUS
Sentence: 156 months
Date of sentencing: 10/24/12
Age: 23

WILLIAM RODRIGUEZ
Sentence: 156 months
Date of sentencing: 12/12/12
Age: 25

LUIS J. HERNANDEZ, JR.
Sentence: 151 months
Date of sentencing: 1/26/12
Age: 31

JOSE CANDELARIO
Sentence: 120 months
Date of sentencing: 10/17/12
Age: 25

BRIAN GONZALEZ
Sentence: 120 months
Date of sentencing: 11/15/12
Age: 21

SCAL MAZARA
Sentence: 117 months
Date of sentencing: 12/13/11
Age: 28

EDWIN RIVERA, JR.
Sentence: 117 months
Date of sentencing: 4/18/12
Age: 26

ROBERT WILLIAMS
Sentence: 60 months
Date of sentencing: 9/12/12
Age: 32

RUDY VASQUEZ
Sentence: 36 months
Date of sentencing: 7/18/12
Age: 25

JONATHAN DIAZ (Latin King Associate)
Sentence: 21 months
Date of sentencing: 2/9/12
Age: 25

JENNIFER SABATINO (Latin King Associate)
Sentence: 12 months and 1 day
Date of sentencing: 4/6/11
Age: 35