BOSTON (AP) — A former enforcer for the Latin Kings street gang who according to prosecutors was involved in several violent attacks and shootings targeting rivals has pleaded guilty to federal racketeering and drug charges.
Orlando Santiago-Torres, 27, who was an enforcer for the New Bedford chapter of the Massachusetts Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, faces decades in prison at sentencing on Oct. 13, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
Santiago-Torres was responsible for organizing violence against rival gang members and organizing security for the Latin Kings’ apartment buildings from which they distributed drugs, prosecutors said.
In one attack in September 2019 described by prosecutors, Santiago-Torres participated in a shooting in which a victim was struck by gunfire and casings from the scene were linked to a firearm recovered from his apartment.
Santiago-Torres was among 62 reputed gang leaders, members and associates indicted in December 2019 and he is the 59th to plead guilty, prosecutors said.
