15 arrested in gang-based drug ring

LOS ANGELES – A task force of federal and local law enforcement officers Friday arrested 15 alleged members of the Pasadena Denver Lane Bloods on federal and state drug trafficking charges.

The 18-month investigation that resulted in Friday’s arrests began shortly after two grand jury indictments targeting the gang’s drug trafficking in the Antelope Valley were unsealed. Read more about the street gang allegedly selling crack cocaine in the Antelope Valley here.

Of the 15 arrested Friday, eight face federal charges and seven face state charges. During the investigation, authorities seized eight firearms, approximately $40,000 in cash, five kilograms of cocaine, and approximately 2.5 kilograms of crack cocaine.

The federal defendants, according to one grand jury indictment unsealed Friday, are:

• Jesus Campos, 43, of La Puente;
• Monte Russell, also known as “Godfather,” 35, of Pomona and Pasadena;
• Dayna Guyton, 29, of Pasadena;
• Myoshi Smith, 23, of Bellflower;
• Lyonel Washington, also known as “Dough,” 33, of Altadena; and
• Jesse Vargas, 34, of El Monte (Among the specific charges in the indictment are allegations that Vargas possessed about three pounds of cocaine on just one day).

Authorities are still searching for Cuong Nguyen, also known as “David Thai,” 32, of Mid-City Los Angeles.

The other two defendants charged in federal court are:

• Keno Monteze Norris, 33, of Pasadena, who is charged in an indictment with distributing crack cocaine; and
• John Eugene Brown, 48, of Pasadena, who is charged in a criminal complaint with possession with the intent to distribute crack cocaine.

Most of the defendants face potential life sentences if they are convicted.

The suspects arrested for state narcotics (cocaine) charges are:

• Christopher Thomas, 35, of Altadena
• Larry Fuller, 44, of Pasadena
• Lorenzo Howse, 37, of Altadena
• Corey Kennedy, 37, of Pasadena
• Anthony McClain, 23, of Pasadena
• Devid Taylor, 60, of Pasadena
• Jehoshua Kindred, 39, of Pasadena

The investigation was conducted by the San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Task Force, which is made up of agents and officers with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Pasadena Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD Altadena gang detectives and the LASD Community Oriented Policing Services Bureau), the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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