MAN GUILTY OF BEING GANG BOSS FROM PRISON

Gustavo "Gino" Colon, 43, was convicted Wednesday of running the Latin Kings
street gang from behind prison bars.

A federal jury found Colon, his wife, Marisol, and two of Colon's deputies
guilty of charges that included drug conspiracy and using a telephone in
furtherance of a crime.

Colon and a man described as a top deputy, Jorge Martinez, face 10 years to
life in prison. Marisol Colon and the other aide, Jose Souffront, face
sentences of 10 to 25 years each.

Marisol Colon was allowed to remain free on bond during the trial to care
for the couple's three children--all conceived during visits while Colon was
in state prisons. He was first sent to prison at age 18 for killing another
gang member. He served additional time after being found guilty of
possessing heroin while incarcerated.

U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen warned Marisol Colon Wednesday to make
alternate arrangements for the children before her hearing July 30 when she
could be ordered taken into custody.

Marisol Colon looked down at the defense table as the verdict was read, and
the judge issued his warning, then cried after leaving the courtroom.

Jose Souffront shouted in Spanish to his fiance in the gallery that she
should not cry when the verdicts prompted her to begin sobbing. Moments
earlier, he had been joking with her in Spanish that he could be coming home
after the verdicts were read.

Interpreters were on hand for much of the trial as some Latin King members
speaking Spanish testified about how Colon maintained iron control of the
gang even while in prison.

One of them, Wilfredo Escobar testified about his trip to see Colon at the
Downstate Menard Correctional Center where all incarcerated gang members
recognized Colon as their boss.

Marisol Colon's defense--backed up with testimony from psychologists--was
that she was psychologically troubled and completely dependent on her husband.

Tapes of telephone conversations played for jurors during the two-month
trial often featured Marisol acting as operator, connecting Colon to his
deputies with three-way calling.

With help from interpreters, prosecutors gave jurors what they said was a
decoded version of the conversations. For example, prosecutors said, when
Colon told his deputies in English or Spanish to find "a garage to park
car," he really meant "a stash house to hide cocaine."

The conversations took place even though each call began with a recorded
warning on the prison telephone Colon was using, cautioning that calls might
be monitored. Colon could even be heard discussing the warning on some of
the tapes.

In the two years covered by the indictment, the three men distributed nearly
$1 million in cocaine, kicking back portions of the proceeds to Marisol,
prosecutors said. Drug dealers were required to pay the gang for the
privilege of selling drugs in the Humboldt Park area.

Jurors found Marisol Colon guilty on three counts; Souffront on four counts;
and Martinez on all 16 counts against him.

Gustavo Colon was found guilty on 20 of the 21 counts against him.

Defense attorneys said they were puzzled about why jurors found Colon not
guilty on the charge of using a telephone in furtherance of a conspiracy,
while convicting him of all the others, including conspiracy and engaging in
a continuing criminal enterprise.

"They looked at it carefully, count by count," said Stuart Fullerton, an
assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case. Jury members deliberated
Monday afternoon and Tuesday before announcing they had reached a verdict at
1 p.m. Wednesday.

Defense attorneys said they will begin filing post-trial motions,
challenging parts of the trial, before the scheduled sentencings in October.

Seven other gang members, including Escobar, pleaded guilty in the case
earlier and are awaiting sentencing.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett