Our New Anahuac

 

Nationally recognized ‘gang peacemaker’ arrested in gang
sweep<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/nationally-recognized-gang-leader-arrested-in-gang-sweep.html>
10:13 AM | June 24, 2009

[image: Sanchez]<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef011571523a5a970b-pi>A
nationally recognized anti-gang leader was among those named in a federal
indictment targeting several Mara Salvatrucha gang members who authorities
said today have been involved in multiple slayings, extortion and assaults.

Alex Sanchez, executive director of Homies Unidos <http://homiesunidos.org/>,
was taken into custody by FBI agents this morning at his Bellflower home.
Sanchez and several members of MS-13, one of the nation’s most ruthless and
notorious gangs, were named as a co-conspirators in the indictment, which
will be unsealed later today, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

The indictment alleges that the gang terrorized the Lafayette Park area.

The case of Sanchez, who admitted to being a member of the MS-13 gang
<http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jun/03/local/me-36892>as
a youth but said he had sworn off the gang lifestyle, became a cause celebre
early in the decade when authorities attempted to deport the self-described
gang peacemaker.

In 1994, Sanchez was deported to his home country of El Salvador because of
a decade-old auto-theft conviction and a subsequent parole violation for
possessing a firearm. A year later, he returned illegally to the U.S. and
eventually helped form the local chapter of Homies Unidos.

Sanchez was granted political
asylum<http://articles.latimes.com/2002/jul/12/local/me-asylum12>
after
successfully arguing that he was a victim of harassment by the Los Angeles
Police Department, and his case was highlighted by police critics during the
Rampart corruption scandal.

Among those who championed Sanchez’s cause was former state Sen. Tom Hayden
(D-Los Angeles), <http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jan/26/local/me-57932> who
befriended Sanchez five years ago and testified on his behalf.
Nationally recognized ‘gang peacemaker’ arrested in gang
sweep
10:13 AM | June 24, 2009

[image: Sanchez]A
nationally recognized anti-gang leader was among those named in a federal
indictment targeting several Mara Salvatrucha gang members who authorities
said today have been involved in multiple slayings, extortion and assaults.

Alex Sanchez, executive director of Homies Unidos ,
was taken into custody by FBI agents this morning at his Bellflower home.
Sanchez and several members of MS-13, one of the nation’s most ruthless and
notorious gangs, were named as a co-conspirators in the indictment, which
will be unsealed later today, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

The indictment alleges that the gang terrorized the Lafayette Park area.

The case of Sanchez, who admitted to being a member of the MS-13 gang
as
a youth but said he had sworn off the gang lifestyle, became a cause celebre
early in the decade when authorities attempted to deport the self-described
gang peacemaker.

In 1994, Sanchez was deported to his home country of El Salvador because of
a decade-old auto-theft conviction and a subsequent parole violation for
possessing a firearm. A year later, he returned illegally to the U.S. and
eventually helped form the local chapter of Homies Unidos.

Sanchez was granted political
asylum
after
successfully arguing that he was a victim of harassment by the Los Angeles
Police Department, and his case was highlighted by police critics during the
Rampart corruption scandal.

Among those who championed Sanchez’s cause was former state Sen. Tom Hayden
(D-Los Angeles), who
befriended Sanchez five years ago and testified on his behalf.