SOUTHWEST FLORIDA - In October 2007, members of the Lee County Sheriff's Office Special Investigations Division began an in-depth investigation into members of the Latin King criminal street gang. The focus of the investigation targeted individuals responsible for the recruitment of new gang members, as well as individuals involved in transferring weapons and narcotics.

Through the course of the investigation, detectives identified several key players who were known to be involved in numerous street level crimes. Furthering the investigation, detectives developed sources that tied members of the Latin Kings into criminal behavior that spread throughout Florida. Acting on this information, detectives began Operation "All The Kings Men."

An undercover Lee County Sheriff's Office detective was introduced to the Latin King leadership last year. A meeting was established with both the statewide leader of the organization, Felix Cuevas, and regional leader, Pablo Ortega. Cuevas and Ortega were actively involved in the process of recruiting new members to the gang and were looking to establish a criminal business enterprise to generate money to grow the gang locally. During this investigation, Cuevas and Ortega were documented holding a violent "recruitment ceremony." During the ceremony, the laws of the Latin Kings were emphasized, followed by a rite of passage.

Following the recruitment ceremony, an undercover operative with the Lee County Sheriff's Office managed to infiltrate the gang's illicit business ventures. The operative was successful in purchasing narcotics and weapons, some of which were stolen. During this time, the detective learned that leaders of the Latin Kings were interested in selling those items in an effort to raise funds to facilitate a move into the Fort Myers neighborhood of Pine Manor where they could establish a base of operations for narcotics and prostitution.

The investigation, which spanned over a year in length, was successful in removing key leadership roles from the Latin King organization. Information gleaned from this investigation parlayed into Operation Firewall, another successful strike against locally present criminal street gangs. Operation Firewall was designed to enforce the new Florida State Statute preventing online recruitment and propagation of criminal street gangs.

The members of "All The Kings Men" and "Firewall" were arrested during a sweep occurring on November 13 and 14, 2008. The cases have been presented to the Office of the State Attorney of the 20th Judicial Circuit for prosecution.

Individuals charged as part of the operation are listed as follows:

Pablo Ortega (DOB 4/15/62) St. James City
Felix Luis Cuevas (DOB 8/25/50) Cape Coral
Antonio Geminiano (DOB 1/8/85) Fort Myers
Priscilla Ortiz (DOB 7/1/89) Bonita Springs
Marcos Santiago (DOB 10/4/91) Fort Myers

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Information from the Lee County Sheriff's Office