Secretary to Southern California gangleader sentenced to 7 years in prison

A woman identified by federal authorities as the “secretary” to an imprisoned gang leader whose turf included parts of East Los Angeles has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

Kelly Deshannon, 42, of La Verne, was sentenced to 85 months in federal prison for conspiracy and violent crimes related to her role as the gang leader’s representative.

Deshannon served as the secretary to a member of the Mexican Mafia who controlled Latino gangs and drug trafficking operations in Pomona while behind bars, officials said.

According to the United States Department of Justice, Deshannon helped facilitate an armed robbery that led to a victim being shot. Officials said Deshannon provided gang members the victim’s address as part of a plan to steal keys to the victim’s luxury SUV.

Deshannon knew intimate details about the victim and even brought a gang member to the victim’s home to point out their target. That same gang member later shot the victim during the robbery.

The victim was wounded but survived the attack, DOJ officials said.

Deshannon was also found guilty of brokering drug sales and collecting gang “taxes” from the gang’s turf on behalf of its leader.

That imprisoned shot-caller is believed to be part of a larger organization associated with the Mexican Mafia, whose own leader is the lead defendant in the case. He was was indicted in 2018 and is currently in federal custody with his trial scheduled to begin in July.

The case was investigated by the FBI.

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