Sixteen members and associates of the notorious prison-initiated gang the Texas Mexican Mafia were sentenced to serious time in the federal pen last week – altogether more than 300 years behind bars – as the result of a multiagency task force crackdown on the drug-running gang. The FBI, the Austin Police Department, the Texas Department of Pub­lic Safety, and a handful of other agencies participated in the two-year initiative, dubbed Opera­tion Merecido (loosely, “Just Deserts”). The long sentences are “a tremendous gift to the people of Austin,” Police Chief Art Acevedo told reporters at a Tuesday afternoon press conference.

This article appears in December 23 • 2011.

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