Isaac Guillen: Real-Life Breaking Bad For Attorney Who Helped Mexican Mafia
He was a boy from the hood who gave up gang life for the UCLA School of Law and a legal career going up against prosecutors in the big leagues of federal court.
AMC 'Breaking Bad.'
But some of those very prosecutors now say that Isaac Guillen tore a page out of the Breaking Bad script and returned to a life of crime, helping to set up a meth lab and aiding some hardcore gangsters:
For that and more the 52-year-old was sentenced this week to 84 months behind bars, according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.
His main crimes: He laundered $1.3 million for the Columbia Lil' Cycos (CLCS) gang and acted as a go-between for the Mexican Mafia.
Federal officials say the funneled cash came from the CLCS' merchant shakedowns and drug sales. The gang operates in the Westlake district west of downtown and is affiliated both the the Mexican Mafia and the 18th Street gang.
Authorities alleged that he used at least some of the cash to help gangsters set up a meth lab.
The office says:
Guillen admitted that he used the shield of the attorney-client privilege to relay CLCS communications to and from convicted Mexican Mafia member Francisco "Puppet" Martinez, who was serving multiple life sentences at the federal "supermax" prison in Florence, Colorado. With Guillen's help, Martinez was able to continue to run the CLCS from behind the walls of the United States Penitentiary, Administrative Maximum Facility, which is regarded as the nation's most secure prison.
Guillen was disbarred in 2010 as a result of the allegations.
At least he'll be on the good side of some of the toughest guys behind bars.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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