Attorney: Detectives Used Gang Leader

By MIKE WELLS The Tampa Tribune

Published: Oct 5, 2007

TAMPA - The arrests of 39 purported leaders of the Florida's Latin Kings gang last year might never have happened without the help of a gang member encouraged by detectives to put together a new "tribe" in Tampa, an attorney for one of those arrested said.

Detectives had Latin Kings member and 16-time convicted felon Luis "Danny" Agosto lure other members to the Caribbean American Club on Aug. 20, 2006, and knew he threatened members with violent beatings if they didn't show, defense attorney Lyann Goudie said.

Six law enforcement agencies raided the South Tampa club, and the defendants were charged with racketeering. Goudie represents defendant Samuel Alvarado, 27, of Lake Worth.

On Wednesday, she filed a motion for dismissal on behalf of the remaining defendants in Hillsborough County Circuit Court. In it, she accuses police and prosecutors of misconduct based upon witness testimony and recorded phone conversations police have in evidence.

On Thursday, Mark Fox, a spokesman for Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober, said prosecutors would not comment on the case while it is pending.

Tampa police also declined to address Goudie's allegations.

"We worked for an extended period of time with the state attorney's office and other agencies on this, and we're very, very confident the investigation was conducted in a thorough manner," spokeswoman Andrea Davis said.

Those who did come to the Latin Kings meeting were under the impression they were there to talk about raising bail money for Michael Lugo, a member who was jailed at the time, Goudie said.

Agosto was pulled into the investigation months earlier in November 2005, when Tampa Police Officer Mathew Zalansky and FBI Agent Dan Wierzbicki visited him in jail. He was facing 25 years to life on theft charges.

Agosto agreed to help in exchange for a reduction in charges and probation, she said. After he got out of jail, his mission was to organize a formal Latin Kings chapter in Tampa.

The informant told police in a recorded phone call that he would be elected as the local gang's "enforcer" with the power to make members attend meetings, according to Goudie's motion.

To this, Zalansky replied, "That'll be good."

Investigators knew that while Agosto worked as an informant, he stole motorcycles, carried a gun, drove without a license and distributed counterfeit cash, Goudie said.

Agosto even threatened his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend using the same cell phone detectives gave him for use in the investigation, Goudie said.

It was his threats of violence to fellow gang members who failed to show up at meetings that benefited law enforcement though, the attorney said.

"He wanted to frighten those individuals so that they would report," Goudie wrote in the motion. "The more people that reported, the more people for law enforcement to arrest, and the more [he] would benefit. ... At all times, [he] was acting as an agent of law enforcement. Therefore, law enforcement knew of their agent's tactics and tacitly approved those tactics. Law enforcement would do anything to 'get' the Latin Kings."

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached at mwells@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7839.