By Frank Main
Chicago Sun Times
CHICAGO — A Latin Saints gang member sentenced this week to 100 months in prison on federal gun charges is suspected of having a role in the mistaken killing of a pregnant woman on Halloween in 2007, sources said.
Luis Contreras, 30, is not charged in the killing of Leticia Barrera, who was four months pregnant.
But he is suspected of giving the order for fellow Latin Saints to fire shots at rival gang members on the 4800 block of South Seeley on Oct. 31, 2007.
Rolando Avillar allegedly was aiming for the rivals when he missed and shot Barrera in the head as she tried to open the gate outside her house. Avillar is charged with her murder.
Contreras -- who has a tattoo of a Glock handgun on his neck -- was convicted of selling three handguns to a U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent posing as a drug dealer. The weapons were “nation guns” used exclusively by the gang, officials said.
Contreras did not mention the Barrera shooting in a statement to federal authorities, but he acknowledged he was the leader of the Latin Saints in the Back of the Yards neighborhood where he lives on the South Side.
Contreras, who told authorities he also was a cocaine dealer, claims he’s shot at 10 people since he was a teenager -- and told authorities he wounded two of them.
During a federal investigation, officials learned Contreras took elaborate steps to ensure police were not watching his activities.
Once, one of Contreras’ lookouts spotted a car that did not belong on the block. Contreras called 911 and falsely reported the man in the car was wielding a gun.
When police arrived and failed to do anything to the man in the car, Contreras realized he was a law enforcement officer conducting surveillance, and Contreras left the area, he later told authorities.
“Perversely clever,” U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen said of Contreras’ 911 maneuver. “Very scary.”
In sentencing Contreras to more than eight years in prison, Andersen said Wednesday that he understood the gang member had a tough upbringing. But the judge said he could not tolerate how Contreras had terrorized the neighborhood.
He also recommended that Contreras have his gun tattoo removed when he gets out of prison.
Copyright 2009 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.