Leader of a Latin Kings gang in Roxbury gets 3 1/2 years

A federal judge last week sentenced Angel Rodriguez, 29, to 44 months in federal prison on his guilty plea to RICO violations for his role leading the Devon Street chapter of the Latin Kings, the US Attorney's office reports.

The local gang's best known alleged member is Shaun "Rev" Harrison, a former Boston Public Schools counselor who was already serving time in state prison for shooting an English High School student in the head over marijuana the student was supposed to be selling for Harrison.

Federal prosecutors had asked for 72 months for Rodriguez, who already has several state convictions on his record, including one in 2017 out of Middlesex County following his conviction in a domestic-violence case in which he

Punched the victim on the side of her neck with closed fist causing the victim to fall to the floor and began punching the victim in the
head, face, and eyes with significant force. The defendant then dragged her by the hair and threw her on the bed causing her face to hit the metal bedframe and she began bleeding profusely from her nose.

Rodriguez was still on probation for that case when he was arrested in 2019, along with 61 other alleged Latin Kings members across Massachusetts as part of a sweep by federal and local law enforcement.

When not beating up people - he also has a conviction for jumping somebody in a courtroom - Rodriguez also found the time to perform in rap videos, posted on YouTube, in which he waxed enthusiastically about shooting rivals and selling drugs, officials say.