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City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo warned last month that he would start suing gangs and today he announced his first win, which is actually a first for any local government in California after a 2007 state law allowed prosecutors to go after gang assets. "This is a whole new front that we're waging against these gang members," Delgadillo said per the LA Times. "It's new to them, it's new to us, but it feels like we're winning."
The 5th & Hill gang, who were busted in a major 2007 crackdown, would produce heroin in their suburban homes and have others deal the drugs downtown. Money collected from the civil settlement will go back to the community. "Every penny we strip away from these criminals will be returned to the neighborhoods they have tormented,” Delgadillo said in a statement.
