The defendants in the trial against the Mallorcan branch of the Los Angeles del Infierno gang in January at the National Court.ZIPI ARAGON (EFE)
The national court has ruled out that the Mallorcan branch of Los Angeles del Infierno, the motorcycle gang founded in the United States with tentacles in various countries, has set up a “criminal organization” on the Spanish island. The court, which this Tuesday sentenced 32 of the 45 defendants to minimum sentences, emphasizes that “it has not been proven” that the defendants were part of “a hierarchical criminal structure with the right to permanence and in which each of its members assumes a specific role. “Specific role.” “They do not represent a real criminal enterprise,” emphasize the judges, who have thereby destroyed one of the main claims of the anti-corruption prosecutor’s office.
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During the trial, which took place between January and February last year, the State Department entered into a comprehensive pact with 35 defendants, many of whom admitted belonging to a “criminal organization” (including others such as prostitution, money laundering and threats). . This agreement meant that they were satisfied with the story that the prosecution put on the table, describing the Los Ángeles del Infierno organization as a criminal group; However, it again meant that the prison sentences imposed on them would be replaced by a fine in order to avoid imprisonment.
However, the refusal of a dozen to sign this deal has allowed the court to analyze and rule on the crime of the criminal organization. And finally he threw it away. No one was convicted for this: not even those who admitted it at the hearing.
The judges explained that “many” of the defendants who had settled in Mallorca had connections to the biker gang; and admit that they committed crimes. But it has not been proven that they did it “under the protection of the association,” the judges assert. “It has not been proven that Los Angeles del Infierno is a perfectly structured organization that exercises internal control of its members coercively or violently, with a strong hierarchical character and iron discipline,” says the statement announced this Tuesday Verdict. which highlights: “[No] it is known that [sea una] criminal enterprise aimed at obtaining benefits to be deposited into a common fund and with them to meet the needs of this structure and to prolong the alleged criminal activities. In this sense, the resolution insists, for example, that “no regular meetings of its members to prepare illegal operations have been described” or that a distribution of tasks with a stable leadership that would issue the orders is demonstrated.
For this reason, the regional court acquitted 13 of the defendants: including Frank Armin Hanebuth, who was president of the Hell’s Angels in Hanover (Germany) and head of the group based in Mallorca. The rest were sentenced to minimum sentences. For all those who have reached an agreement with the Public Ministry, it has been ordered that the penalties be replaced by a fine – among others, the nine years and six months in prison imposed on Khalil Youssafi, vice-president of the small group founded on the Spanish Island. —. And none of those who refused to consent to the prosecution and were convicted were sentenced to more than two years in prison – so they will avoid imprisonment if they have no criminal record or have already served this sentence in temporary prison.
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In addition, the 32 convicts are subject to extenuating circumstances: unreasonable delays for all; and confession for those who admitted the facts.
In their indictment, prosecutors said Los Angeles del Infierno was founded in the United States in 1948 and from there spread over decades to other regions of the world through the formation of local groups called chapters. According to his thesis, they landed in Mallorca in 2009: “This implementation in the Balearic Islands was a consequence of the band’s strategy at the European level, motivated by its geographical location, the existence of hostess businesses, the possibility of money laundering and human trafficking.” of drugs and the presence of a foreign resident population, which facilitated extortion practices,” the ministry explained.
An ETA member admits a double attack in Alicante and Benidorm
In another trial held this Tuesday before the National Court, ETA member Asier Eceiza admitted his involvement in the double bomb attack of July 22, 2003 on two hotels in Alicante and Benidorm, in which 14 people were injured, two of them seriously. The terrorist, who reached an agreement with the prosecutor’s office, accepted the 182 years in prison that the State Department finally requested for him, of which he will serve a maximum of 20 years. The accusation initially called for a sentence of 268 years in prison.
Eceiza had already been acquitted twice (2020 and 2021) for the attacks in Alicante and Benidorm. The national court considered that there was insufficient evidence against him. But last April, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial after finding that those verdicts were based on “arbitrary and illogical grounds.” This new hearing was then scheduled for this Tuesday, to which the ETA member came with a condition that did not exist before: the court had already sentenced him last January to 19 years in prison for participating in the murder of the socialist Juan Priede, city councilor of Orio (Gipuzkoa), in 2002.
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