Latin King members sentenced; Lansing man gets 15 years
By Teresa Auch Schultz tauch@post-trib.com November 29, 2012 2:54PM
Updated: January 1, 2013 6:27AM
An Illinois man will spend 15 years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to taking part in the Latin Kings racketeering conspiracy.
David “Flaco” Lira, 39, is one of the first of more than 20 defendants to be sentenced in the case. Lira, who was charged a year ago in the case, admitted earlier this year in the U.S. District Court in Hammond that he joined the Latin Kings as a child and that he let co-defendants stash guns at his house in Lansing, Ill. The defendants used those guns a few days later in the killings of two rival gang leaders, James Walsh and Gonzalo Diaz, just outside the Griffith restaurant Sopranos.
All but two of the defendants in the case have pleaded guilty. Two other Chicago defendants, Bianca Fernandez and Serina Arambula, were sentenced earlier this week after pleading guilty to playing a part in the killings of a rival gang member in November 2006. Fernandez received 36 months in prison, and Arambula was sentenced to 21 months.
