ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Five members of a New Mexico prison gang have been found guilty of federal racketeering charges involving violent crimes including murder.
The U.S. attorney’s office in New Mexico says a Las Cruces jury on Friday acquitted two other defendants of racketeering offenses.
Prosecutors say Edward Troup, Billy Garcia, Arturo Arnulfo Garcia and brothers Andrew Gallegos and Joe Lawrence Gallegos killed four men, including three inmates in 2001, to boost their status in the Syndicato de Nuevo Mexico Prison Gang. The fourth victim was slain in 2012.
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They all face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
They will remain in custody until their sentencing hearings, which have not been scheduled.
The racketeering involved 23 other co-defendants. Seventeen have since pleaded guilty. Three have been convicted and a fourth was acquitted.
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