High member of Mexican Mafia who controlled parts of LA stabbed to death in Corcoran prison

A leader of the Mexican Mafia who controlled parts of Southern California from his prison cell was killed Wednesday at a southern San Joaquin Valley prison.

Danny Roman, 64, was stabbed multiple times in the body and face allegedly by two other inmates who ganged up on him at the Corcoran State Prison Substance Abuse Treatment Facility. Roman was serving a life sentence and was a ring leader of the Mexican Mafia who gave orders from his cell, according to reports.

It was the third deadly attack at the Corcoran prison complex in a four-day span.

A news release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said inmates Raul Alvarado and Edward Cisneros allegedly attacked Roman before Roman was taken to the prison’s medical facility and later pronounced dead.

Both Cisneros and Alvarado were placed in isolation pending an investigation. Two stabbing weapons were recovered from the crime scene, CDCR officials said.

All three inmates are from Southern California.

Mexican Mafia member

Roman had been in prison since January 1985 after he was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole for a first-degree murder in Los Angeles County, according to the CDCR.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Roman was the leader of the Harpy’s street gang, and three years after being in prison, he was inducted into the Mexican Mafia. From there, he orchestrated criminal activity in vast areas of Los Angeles from various prisons, the newspaper reported.

Roman’s daughter, Vianna Roman, is serving a 15-year prison sentence after pleading in 2015 to acting as a proxy for her father’s criminal orders for street gangs, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney in the Central District of California.

The Department of Justice said in a 2015 report: “Danny Roman oversaw gang activity by giving orders that directed gang members to engage in criminal conduct, including the murder of rival gang and Mexican Mafia members, and the extortion of businesses and gangs to generate income that was funneled back to Danny Roman in state prison.”

The LA Times reports that Cisneros, one of the two men accused of killing Roman, was also a Mexican Mafia member. Cisneros, 31, was convicted of attempted first-degree murder in San Bernardino County and has been in prison seven years.

The other man, Alvarado, 47, was convicted of second-degree murder in Los Angeles County and has been imprisoned since February 1994.

The Mexican Mafia, also known as La EME and other names, originated in 1957 at a prison in Tracy.

Other fatal stabbings

Two other inmates were killed in stabbings inside the Corcoran prison.

Anthony Roberson-Anderson, 30, died late Thursday night of injuries suffered in an attack Tuesday, the CDC said.

Prison officials said the incident is not connected to the killing of Roman.

Corcoran officials say officers saw inmate Brandon Caine running from the prone form of Roberson-Anderson, who had swelling and multiple lacerations to his face.

Caine, 38, was placed in isolation pending an investigation.

Roberson-Anderson was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. He was convicted of first-degree murder in Los Angeles County and sent to prison in 2014, CDC said.

Caine was serving a 12-year sentence for first-degree robbery, also out of Los Angeles County, and was sent to prison in 2013.

On June 6, Antonio Vasquez was stabbed to death, allegedly by his cellmate.

This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 4:25 PM.