Latin Kings member gets 27 years for murder, racketeering

Dirksen Federal Courthouse in Chicago | Sun-Times file

A purported member of the Latin Kings gang has been sentenced to 27 years in federal prison for racketeering and murder.

Alonza Horta was sentenced Sept. 4 after pleading guilty earlier this year to charges that he fatally shot a rival gang member on the Southeast Side, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Horta was with two fellow members of the Latin Kings when he confronted Alfonso Calderon in 2017 and fatally shot him, prosecutors said. Calderon, 24, was shot in a vacant lot in the 10700 block of South Green Bay, Chicago police have said.

Alonza Horta

Horta, 23, of Hammond, Indiana, was indicted in 2018 along with more than 30 other alleged members of the Latin Kings.

When the feds brought their first case against the Latin Kings two years earlier, they said the gang operated with corporate precision. Members met, paid dues and honored a group “manifesto” or “constitution.”

But the feds also said new members endured vicious beatings. If one stepped out of line, he could be subject to a so-called “SOS” — or “shoot on sight” — order.