Detainment continues for gang-leader suspect

Federal prosecutors persuaded a judge Tuesday to keep a Canadian man behind bars by portraying him as the gun-toting boss of a violent drug trafficking gang.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler found that Clay Roueche -- the alleged leader of the notorious United Nations Gang -- presents a risk of flight and a danger to the community pending his trial on a charge that he conspired to move huge quantities of marijuana and cocaine across the border. Roueche pleaded not guilty to the charge Monday.

In arguing for Roueche's continued detention, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ron Friedman revealed snapshots of an exhaustive international investigation that included surreptitious surveillance and phone wiretaps.

"We have recordings of him directing gang activities," Friedman told the court. "He is the head honcho in this enterprise."

To convince the judge of Roueche's potential for violence, Friedman described how Canadian authorities conducting a search of his Coquitlam, B.C., home after his arrest found an illegal Glock handgun with extended magazines, night vision goggles, a balaclava, handcuffs and pepper spray along with pictures of a rival gang leader. "This constitutes a kit for kidnapping or murder," said prosecutors in a court filing.

Friedman added that "most of us don't drive in an armor-plated vehicle" as Roueche did.

The court filing also related how a Roueche associate, who showed up at his home just as police were about to search it, was found to have a hidden compartment in his car with a loaded handgun inside. Records from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives show the weapon was registered to a U.S. law enforcement agency. Prosecutors said that they have yet to find an explanation for how the firearm ended up in the possession of a Roueche associate.

Roueche's attorney, Irwin Schwartz, sought to cast doubt on the reliability of the government's claims.

"Mr. Friedman says Clay Roueche is the leader of the U.N. Gang," Schwartz said. "According to whom? Who says so?"

And Schwartz criticized references in government court filings to newspaper articles. "To be asked to detain a man according to newspaper reports that in turn quote anonymous sources," an incredulous Schwartz stated in a rhetorical question.

But Theiler ordered Roueche to remain at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac pending an August trial.