jackie 20pons 204 20research 20project

							The vinelAND
    BOYZ
  By: Jackie Pons
    Period:4
     Date:1-22-07
 Central Research Question:
• Supporting Question/Subtopic 1:How many members of the
  Vineland Boyz were arrested and for what?
• Supporting Question/Subtopic 2:How many police officers
  were apart of this investigation of murders and crimes?
• Supporting Question/Subtopic 3:What was the longest
  investigation that was reported?
• Supporting Question/Subtopic 4:How long did members of
  the Vineland Boyz stay in jail or how long of community
  service did they get?
            About the VBS
      The research I chose to do was about the Vineland
Boyz gang and a crazy night they had called silent night.
The Vineland Boyz were one of the most violent gangs of
America. They did crimes, murders, and they sold drugs.
The police recommended them to be the most searched
and investigated. The investigations I am about to tell
started around the 1980’s-2003. They were searched in
North Hollywood, Sun Valley, Palmdale, and Burbank. It
was around 4:30 a.m. on a tuesday when police and
investigators started to search for members of the Vineland
Boyz gang. This investigation was 18 months. The
investigation is about two cops that were killed and the
police were so determined to catch the killer and the
members of the Vineland Boyz so that they wouldn’t do
anymore crimes and for them to think of what they did was
wrong. During the investigation there was a teen killed and
so the police were even more determined to catch the
members of the gang. Some members were arrested for up
to 15 years.
              Sun Valley Investigation
Eight local and federal law-enforcement agents loudly
knocked four times on the door of a two-story condo
complex in a middle-class neighborhood of Van Nuys
before dawn Tuesday. When no one came to the door,
officers kicked it in and rousted awake 28-year-old Jose
“Crusty” Cardoza, an alleged associate of the Vineland
Boyz street gang. Police allegedly found cocaine, three
loaded handguns and about 900 rounds of ammunition in
the house. The gang member was suspected in Santa
Paula officer killings. “We let him dress and put his shirt
and shoes on. He didn’t resist arrest. The whole thing took
about 30 or 40 minutes. This was the third time in less
than a month that police went after the Vineland Boyz &
its associates. During the course of the investigation,
which totaled more than 200 arrests, more than a
million dollars was confiscated as well as 75 firearms
and 300 pounds of cocaine, methamphetamines and
heroin.
                 Two Cops Killed
                      http://www.nbc4.tv/slideshow/ne
                      ws/4633782/detail.html?qs=;s=1
                      4;w=400


•   The early morning investigation began at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, when officers
    began serving 43 search and arrest warrants on members of the Vineland Boyz
    gang in Los Angeles, Palmdale, Rosamond, Valencia, Bakersfield and Simi Valley,
    police said. The Vineland Boyz gang is suspected in the fatal shooting of Los
    Angeles Officer James Beyea in 1988 and the 2003 shooting death of Burbank
    Officer Matthew Pavelka. Matthew Pavelka was shot 14 times and died at that
    moment. One of the suspects were also killed do to the cause of him telling
    police for evidence.
•   23 members were arrested over 24 hours that accuses of a host of narcotic,
    weapon & violent crimes, including a murder of a 16-year-old witness & a police
    officer. 12 other defendants were already in custody including the man accused
    of pulling the trigger that killed police officer Matthew pavelka.
•   1,300 law enforcement officers executed 43 search warrants, $30,000 in cash, &
    seized 41 guns and 12 pounds of narcotics (primarily marijuana), and arresting
    36 people — some on weapons and drug charges.
•   The indictment also charges another alleged member, Horacio "Horse" Yepiz,
    with shooting one of the gang's leaders on Aug. 12, 2003 so he could take over.
    Another killing was carried out on May 12, 2003, by Raul "Clown" Robledo, who
    acted on the orders of one of the gang's leaders, Jose "Peps" Ledesma, who had
    shot and killed a rival gang member and feared the victim could identify him,
    according to the indictment.
•   Founded in the 1980s by members of a San Fernando Valley–area football team,
    the Vineland Boyz first hit the attention of the police in 1988 after LAPD Officer
    James Beyea was killed after he confronted a 17-year-old suspected Vineland
                A Teen Killed
A teenage was shot and killed last night while members of the
Vineland Boyz were still being investigated. I just read about it in
the Sunday paper. At the Pacific View High School, where most of
the students are in gangs (mostly CO x CH). Fernando Mosqueda
(17) was sitting in a car talking to friends in the 1700 block of San
Marino Street near Guava Street shortly before 10 p.m. A car with
three men inside pulled up to where Mosqueda was parked, and at
least two of them got out of the car. The men asked Mosqueda
and his friends where they were from, then began shooting into
the car. At least one bullet hit Mosqueda in the chest before the
men jumped back into the car and left. Like in Burbank they
arrested around a hundred or so gang members from the gang
"Vineland Boys" only after that cop got killed in Nov. People
wonder and ask why didn't they arrest these guys before, if they
had something to arrest them on?
              Members of The Gang
•   The following persons were named in the indictment. Underscored names indicate
    persons arrested during Operation Silent Night, June 21, 2005:
•   Jose De Jesus Agredano, 39, a fugitive believed to be residing in Mexico;
•   Espiridion Aranda, 26, of Sun Valley, who is currently in federal custody;
•   Ricardo Avila, 29, of Sylmar;
•   Eric Avina, 25, of Sun Valley, who is currently in state prison;
•   Ruben Ayala, 30, of Sylmar;
•   Ricardo Barba, 20, of Sun Valley;
•   Jaime Bautista, 30, of Sun Valley;
•   Gilberto Carrasco, 35, of Sun Valley;
•   Carlos Able Cassillas, 34, of Sylmar;
•   Carlos Campos, 34, of Winnetka;
•   Saign Mahaya Charlsestein, 26, of Sylmar;
•   Jesus Contreras, 32, of Sun Valley;
•   Javier Covarrubias, 21, of Sun Valley, who is eligible for the death penalty in relation to
    the murder of a witness to a crime, and is already in state custody;
•   There were many other names that could have filled up pages and pages. They were all
    arrested and charged. Some members were put in jail (prison) for many years, and
    some were put in the death department to not be a part of life. Other members were
    charged and had to wear ankle detectors so that police could know where they are and
    to make sure that they would not be near other rival gang members and other people.
    Members regret that they were apart of this gang and for what they did to police officer
    Matthew Pavelka for the fact of they would not be able to see there family, have civil
    rights, having privileges, and that they would not be apart of nature. In the 18-months
    preceding today’s operation, the Silent Night Task Force arrested 231 persons,
    impounded 25 cars, seized 75 firearms, over 300 pounds of cocaine,
    methamphetamine, and heroin, and over $1 million.
             Bibliography
• Sun Valley Investigation:
  www.santapaulatimes.com/news/fullstory.php/ai
  d/12550/Former_SPPD_Officer_shot:_Vineland_B
  oys_convicted_on_RICO_charges_.htm
• Two Cops Murdered:
  www.laweekly.com/news/taking-down-the-
  vineland-boyz/442
• A Teen Killed:
  www.brendastardom.com/arch.asp?ArchID=367
• Members of The Gang:
  http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cac/pr20
  05/OperationSilentNight.pdf

• Other websites:
• http://www.nbc4.tv/news/4633562/
  detail.html