Gangs Focusing More on Making Money, Police Say

Jan 16, 07:25 AM

Jan. 16--FORT WORTH -- A prostitution ring operated by teenage gang members that victimized girls -- and that was recently broken up by police -- appears to be the first of its kind in Fort Worth, authorities say.

But the operation fits a trend that police have noticed: street gangs spending less energy on defending colors and turf and more on moneymaking opportunities.

"These days, you might see members of two rival gangs getting together to sell dope," said Lt. David Burgess of the Fort Worth police gang unit. "They're more profit-driven and getting their hands into anything in which they can turn a buck.

"Nothing gangs do really surprises us anymore."

On Monday night, officers arrested two more underage boys whom they accuse of being in the prostitution ring, bringing the total number of arrests to seven. Five of the suspects are juveniles, including a 15-year-old girl.

Two of the suspects are legally adults, although they are teenagers. One, Martin Reyes, 17, was in the Tarrant County Jail on Tuesday, charged with aggravated kidnapping and engaging in organized crime. Bail was set at $150,000, a jailer said. The other, Diego Armando Rodriguez, 19, is charged with two counts of engaging in organized crime, according to court records. He remained in the Mansfield Jail on Tuesday night with bail set at $170,000. Federal immigration authorities have placed a hold on him.

Police have said the suspects first befriended girls and then forced them into prostitution through threats and violence. At least five victims, ages 12 to 16, have been identified.

The investigation started in August in an east Fort Worth apartment complex when a 32-year-old woman was arrested after residents reported that she was going door to door offering sex with a 14-year-old girl for $50. Four suspects were arrested Jan. 3 when officers found them with a 14-year-old girl at a southeast Fort Worth convenience store. Police said the store owner had paid to have sex with the girl. The owner, Change Hyeong Lee, 56, was also arrested, police said.

Prosecutors could petition to have some of the juveniles tried as adults, said Tim Bednarz, chief of the juvenile section of the Tarrant County district attorney's office.

"It's too early to tell if we will or which ones we would try to certify," Bednarz said.

On Tuesday, investigators released a few additional details about the operation. Although some of the girls were runaways, others lived at home. In those cases, the gang members often had the 15-year-old female suspect pick up the girls at their homes so that their parents wouldn't grow suspicious.

"They didn't want the parents to see a car full of guys," said Sgt. J.D. Moore of the major-case unit.

The 15-year-old also sometimes acted as "an enforcer," assaulting the girls if they did not obey, police said.

The male gang members took the girls to customers at apartment complexes, targeting areas with large numbers of undocumented immigrants, police have said. They usually charged about $50 for sex with a girl.

If the girls refused, the gang members sexually assaulted them, sometimes in front of one another, police said.

The suspects are members of a south Fort Worth gang, police said. Investigators said they did not know whether the victims or suspects are enrolled in Fort Worth schools. A school district official said he had no information on the suspects or victims.

In recent years, police have seen more gangs operating moneymaking schemes such as gunrunning, burglary and fraud, Burgess said. Officers have investigated a few prostitution cases, but nothing as organized as this ring, he said.

The trend of gangs focusing on profits seems to be a nationwide one, said Melvin Carter, who heads Comin' Up, a gang-intervention program operated by Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Fort Worth. Carter said it has been theorized that some of the organization behind the schemes may come from gangs operating in prison.

"Like any organization, they're trying to use their resources to reap the benefits," he said.

Turf gangs, which form in neighborhoods, often sell drugs, authorities said. White-supremacist gangs tend to focus on fraud and identify theft. MS-13, a Central American gang, is reportedly involved in human trafficking.

Gangs have for years recruited juveniles for criminal activities because juvenile penalties aren't as severe as those in the adult system, Carter said. But sometimes judges approve prosecutors' requests to try young offenders as adults.

"The kids are getting in serious trouble, just like adults," Carter said.

Overall, violent gang-related crime in Fort Worth declined in 2007 from 2006, Burgess said. Homicides, assaults and deadly conduct cases all dropped. Robberies and cases of graffiti and carrying unauthorized weapons were up, however.

Robberies rose the most -- up 79 percent in 2007 -- but many involved gang members robbing one another, he said.

Gang officers will continue to monitor the gang involved in the prostitution ring, Burgess said.

Staff writer Diane Smith contributed to this report.

Gang crimes in Fort Worth, 2006 to 2007

Decline

Deadly conduct: 36 percent

Aggravated assault: 8 percent

Simple assault: 7 percent.

Homicide statistics are not available, but gang investigators say they believe that the number has dropped.

Increase

Graffiti: 36 percent

Carrying an unauthorized weapon: 22 percent

Possession of a controlled substance: 19 percent

Source: Fort Worth police gang unit

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