Superior Court Judge Robert Perry sentenced a former Filipino gang leader to eight consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole for his role in the murders of eight people and 10 attempted murders that occurred in the mid-1990’s in the Greater Los Angeles region.

Last Wednesday, Perry handed Marvin Mercado, 37, a former leader of the Asian Boyz gang, the stiff penalty after a jury earlier in the month of March spared the Filipino from the death penalty.

Perry called Mercado a clear danger to society and said only two of his victims were rival gang members while the rest were law-abiding citizens.

“He deserves the greatest sentence this court can impose,” said Perry, according to the Associated Press. “The amount of pain and senseless hurt this defendant and his associates have caused is enormous and incalculable.”

The sentence of Mercado finally closes one more chapter on what police and prosecutors called the “Summer of Madness” rampage in the mid-1990’s when Mercado and other members of the Asian Boyz gang terrorized the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valley.

The Asian Boyz gang was composed mostly of Cambodian, Vietnamese, Filipino and other Southeast Asian origin. They were known for targeting the Asian immigrant community, committing burglaries, robberies and eventually murder. In one home invasion case, Asian Boyz gang members tied up an 84-year-old Filipino woman.

It was during this time that Los Angeles Police Department investigators said members of the Asian Boyz gang – led by Mercado – killed two gang rivals, three men mistaken for gang enemies, a man during a home invasion robbery, a teenager walking home from an arcade and another man fatally shot with a shotgun.

When police authorities began rounding up the suspects of the crime, Mercado fled to the Philippines. His brother, Pierre Mercado, who is awaiting trial on four counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, also fled a few years later.

The seven other members of the gang - Buntheon Roeung, Sothi Menh, David Evangelista, Roatha Buth, Son Thanh Bui, Ky Tony Ngo and Kimorn Nuth - have since been prosecuted and sentenced to life in prison for their role in the murder, attempted murders, and conspiracies to commit murder in June of 1998.

Living a quiet life

Mercado had eluded authorities for more than a decade by escaping to the Philippines.

Using the name Mark delos Angeles, Marvin Mercado married Nicole Romero, the daughter of a wealthy construction magnate in a lavish wedding that Mercado family members attended under false names. His brother Pierre posed as his cousin, Angel Reyes, said prosecutor Hoon Chun.

An aunt, Luz Rodriguez, testified at the trial that she took the bride aside a week before the wedding and told her Mercado’s real identity, but the bride said she already knew.

Mercado lived for a year with his in-laws in a gated compound, described by Chun as “Bel Air-like,” before moving to a condo in a ritzy section of Manila. He ran an Internet café and a fish farming business. However, his life of luxury came to an end when a reward resulted in a tip to authorities. The brothers were arrested and extradited.

Moving on

The Asian Boyz still exist, but Chun said the convictions of Mercado and seven other members significantly diminished the gang’s criminal activity.

“They were responsible for a horrendous number of shootings that showed no signs of stopping,” he said. “This is one of those few cases where we can say, we made an impact.”

Jennifer Gregory, whose husband Jon Gregory was killed in a 1995 home invasion by the gang, said Wednesday she was relieved that justice had been done. Her three daughters were left traumatized by the murder of their father and grew up fearing the killers would return.

“It tore apart my kids, but it’s getting better,” she said. “He can’t do anything to anyone any more. I can try to move on.”

Chun said he believes Mercado deserved the death penalty, but called the sentence “a nice measure of justice.” “I can’t complain too much,” he added.