An alleged gang member from Highland Park who spent more than a dozen years on the run in connection with two racially motivated murders will finally face a federal court judge in Los Angeles Monday after being arrested at the Mexican border on hate crime charges.
Merced “Shadow” Cambero, 38, was ordered detained Friday after his arrest and will go before the Los Angeles federal judge for the setting of a trial date, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Cambero was not immediately asked to enter a plea.
In 2004, Cambero and four fellow alleged members of the Avenues gang were charged with conspiracy against rights, interference with federally protected activities, aiding and abetting, and use or discharge of a firearm during crime of violence causing death.
The case marked the first time the federal hate crime statute had been used to combat racial violence by members of a street gang.
During the ensuing three years, Cambero’s co-defendants were convicted and sentenced to life terms in federal prison for their roles in a gang-related conspiracy that led to the murders of two black men in the mostly-Latino neighborhood claimed by the gang, prosecutors said.
According to a 2006 LA Weekly article, the Avenues gang targeted blacks — including women and children — for killing. Neither Bowser nor Wilson were gang affiliated, according to the LA Weekly story.
Cambero is accused of participating in the murders.
— Staff and wire reports