Mexican Mafia member pleads guilty to racketeering in LA County jails, murder

A Mexican Mafia member who controlled drug smuggling, narcotics sales and the extortion of prisoners inside the Los Angeles County jail system pleaded guilty on Monday, April 7, to a federal charge that includes his role in a plot to murder a rival.

Jose Landa-Rodriguez, 61, entered his plea in downtown Los Angeles to a charge of racketeering conspiracy, with a special sentencing allegation that he conspired to commit a murder, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

U.S. District Judge George H. Wu set sentencing for May 19.

The indictment focuses on a period when Landa-Rodriguez and two now-deceased members of the prison gang allegedly controlled drug sales among Spanish-speaking inmates in jails throughout the county.

The initial 70-defendant indictment filed in 2018 explains how the incarcerated Landa-Rodriguez and other leaders of the enterprise exercised power with the help of trusted shot callers, facilitators and associates who operated as “an illegal government within (jail) facilities,” prosecutors wrote.

Landa-Rodriguez orchestrated a host of criminal activities, according to the indictment, including endorsing murders, assaults, and the kidnapping and planned murder of a relative of a gang member who had gone against him.

Court papers say the rival who was killed was shot to death after Landa-Rodriguez placed him on the gang’s hit list for interfering with the extortion of drug dealers in the Echo Park area.

There are almost 140 members of the Mexican Mafia, referred to as “carnales” or “brothers.” The majority are incarcerated in prisons or jails, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.