New Bedford Latin Kings bought houses they planned to renovate and flip in an elaborate scheme to launder drug money, feds say — a move one organized crime expert called an indicator of how sophisticated and “how much of a threat” the gang could be.
The New Bedford “trap” houses — used to sell drugs and conduct other gang business — at 104 Tallman St., 269 Sawyer St. and 358 N. Front St., and a fourth property at 585 Elm St., were court-authorized for seizure by the government after dozens of alleged Latin Kings members were indicted in “Operation Throne Down” earlier this month.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling’s office detailed a scheme to use drug money to renovate properties, through cash-only subcontractor payments, to later flip them for a profit and give the drug dealers a declarable lawful source of income, in the 190-page indictment.
“I’ll show you how to hide the money with the bank, it’s simple,” Robert Avitable, the Duxbury-based landlord who was identified as a gang associate in the “Operation Throne Down” racketeering conspiracy, allegedly told Jorge Rodriguez, the Latin Kings’ statewide second-in-command, explaining they could hide the gang’s drug profits in Avitable’s trust.
In August, Avitable purchased the Elm Street home through his ARA Realty Trust Corp. for $105,000. Rodriguez, in a Facebook post, posted a photograph of the Elm Street house and wrote, “Me and somebody else purchased this house going to remodel this house we’re gonna put it back on the market for sale inside and outside …. For sale pretty soon,” the affidavit said.
In discussing the renovation of another unidentified property in January, the affidavit shows Rodriguez boasting about being able to pay a $20,000 “outstanding issue” with the building’s sprinklers because “I make that in one day.” Rodriguez also allegedly threatened to shoot the third party who invested money into the project if he was not happy with his return.
Victoria Kelleher, Avitable’s lawyer, did not return a request for comment.
Peter Levitt, the former chief of the organized crime and gang unit in Boston, now in private practice, said the gang’s real estate dealings were unusual.
“It’s unusual in Massachusetts to see street gangs involved in that level of sophisticated crime activity. It’s an indicator of how organized they are and therefore how much of a threat they are,” Levitt said about the Latin Kings.
But New Bedford Police in a statement Thursday said they have seen landlords cooperate with gang members, and policing the activity requires collaboration from landlords, law enforcement, prosecutors and judges.
“Despite unscrupulous business practices of a few landlords, we work very closely with the Greater New Bedford Landlord Association and a lot of responsible landlords to prevent this type of enabling,” the New Bedford Police statement said.
A spokeswoman for Lelling’s office declined to comment on whether other Latin Kings-associated real estate deals are being investigated.
Avitable asked a federal court earlier this week to grant him a Jan. 30 deadline to post three properties not named in his indictment as collateral for his release from custody.
