Man Sentenced In Mafia Drug Dealing Operation Along LA River

LOS ANGELES, CA — A 27-year-old gang member was sentenced Monday to more than 15 years behind bars for his role in a conspiracy in which three street gangs came together under the control of an imprisoned Mexican Mafia member to run drug sales along the Los Angeles River from Elysian Park to Burbank.

Giovanni "Suspect" Olvera, of Atwater Village, pleaded guilty last June to one federal count each of racketeering conspiracy, drug trafficking and illegal firearms possession.

Olvera, a member of a gang that claims an area north of Los Feliz Boulevard between San Fernando Road and the river, provided methamphetamine to the enterprise and collected "taxes," federal prosecutors said.

A June 2015 indictment describes a scheme in which the Mexican Mafia worked to unite three longtime rival gangs under the control of Arnold "Arnie" Gonzales, a Mexican Mafia leader serving a life sentence in Pelican Bay.

According to the 27-count indictment, a "peace treaty" imposed by Gonzales in 2010 brought the gangs together "to control the narcotics trafficking and other illicit activities committed in their territories" of Atwater Village, Glendale and northeast Los Angeles.

The indictment describes a conspiracy to violate the Racketeer- Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and accuses almost two-dozen defendants of being "members and associates of a criminal organization engaged in, amongst other things, conspiracy to traffic in narcotics, narcotics trafficking, extortion, and crimes of violence, including conspiracy to commit murder, murder, attempted murder and robbery."

City News Service; Photo: Shutterstock