Judge strikes a blow for open records in Latin Kings case

A federal judge has turned down a request by the government to seal transcripts reflecting testimony by six witnesses in the racketeering case against the North Carolina Latin Kings.

Prosecutors sought to shield the testimony of former Latin Kings members Marcelo Perez (Sacrifice), Luis Alberto Rosa (Speechless), Richard Robinson (Focus), Charles Lawrence Moore (Toasty), Allan Jordan (Smooth), along with a sixth witness, Antwan Lloyd.

The government contends that the information could be used for retaliatory purposed by North Carolina Latin Kings leader Jorge Cornell (Jay) and other defendants, Russell Kilfoil (Peaceful) and Ernesto Wilson. Cornell and Wilson were sentenced in August, while Kilfoil's sentencing has been scheduled for Oct. 9. The government is also concerned that three other defendants who pleaded guilty but did not cooperate — Jason Paul Yates (Squirrel), Wesley Anderson Williams (Bam) and Steaphan Acencio-Vasquez (Leo) might use the information for retaliatory purposes.

US District Court Judge James A. Beaty found that the government did not meet the "heavy burden" of overcoming the common law presumption that the public has the right "to inspect and copy all judicial records and documents."

"The government wishes to shield the witnesses' trial transcript testimony from defendants who were present at the public, criminal trial and could readily identify witnesses and their testimony," Beaty wrote. "Thus, any potential act of retaliation may not necessarily stem from witnesses' trial transcripts."

Beaty said the government's request comes far too late to be meaningful, considering that the trial took place 10 months ago.

"The nature and content of witnesses' testimony were the subject of extensive reporting in the news and such information is available to the public from various media outlets," Beaty added. "Therefore, any act now by the court to shield witnesses' trial transcripts from the public would not likely thwart third-party retaliation because the request comes 'too late' to prevent public disclosure."

Sentencing for Latin Kings scheduled for August

Jorge Cornell (right) in Greensboro about a month before his arrest.

Sentencing for nine Latin Kings and an associate tried as part of a criminal racketeering enterprise has been scheduled for the mid-August.

Jorge Cornell, inca, or leader, of the North Carolina Latin Kings from 2005 to 2011, along with his brother, Russell Kilfoil, are scheduled to be sentenced at the Hiram H. Ward federal building in downtown Winston-Salem on Aug. 14 at 10 a.m. Russell Kilfoil is also known as Jonathan Hernandez.

Cornell and Kilfoil were found guilty of racketeering by a federal jury in November 2012.

Ernesto Wilson, a Latin Kings associate who was convicted with Cornell and Kilfoil will be sentenced on Aug. 13 at 10 a.m. at the same location, along with Wesley Williams and Steaphan Acencio-Vasquez. Williams and Acencio-Vasquez pleaded guilty before the case went to trial, but did not testify.

Four others, Jason Paul Yates, Marcelo Ysrael Perez, Luis Rosa, Richard Robinson and Charles Moore, will be sentenced on Aug. 15 at 10 a.m. at the federal court building. Yates, a rival of Cornell for leadership of the North Carolina Latin Kings, was to be tried separately because his original lawyer was not prepared to represent him with the other defendants. He subsequently pleaded guilty. Perez, Rosa, Robinson and Moore pleaded guilty and testified for the government.

Three other defendants, Samuel Velasquez, Irvin Vasquez and Randolph Kilfoil, who is also Cornell's younger brother, were acquitted by the jury at the conclusion of the 2012 trial. A racketeering charges against a fourth defendant, Carlos Coleman, was dismissed by US District Court Judge James A. Beaty Jr.

Cornell founded the North Carolina Latin Kings in Greensboro in 2005 after relocating from New York with his family three years earlier. As a member of the New York Latin Kings in the mid- to late 1990s, he was strongly influenced by Antonio Fernandez, a leader known as King Tone. Cornell later recounted that he received authorization from the national leadership of the Latin Kings in Chicago to start the North Carolina organization.

After going public to protest police harassment in 2008, the North Carolina Latin Kings under Cornell's leadership aligned themselves with an interracial group of pastors. Cornell made two unsuccessful bids for Greensboro City Council, and his organization remained a fixture on the city's social justice scene until a federal raid in December 2011 led to the jailing of most of the organization's membership.