A Criminal Court clerk may be helping gang members on trial for murder

Jeff Coen:

A Criminal Court clerk who volunteered to work the murder trial of two gang members has gang ties of her own and was seen passing a cell phone to a defendant, prosecutors said.

Virnalisi Gonzalez, 33, faces up to 15 years in prison if she is convicted on charges of bringing contraband into a penal institution and official misconduct, authorities said. Judge Colleen Hyland on Monday ordered her held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

"The deputy observed Gonzalez handing a cell phone to one of the defendants in the case who was behind bars in the lockup area," Assistant State's Atty. David Williams said. Allegedly realizing she was being watched, she quickly took it back, Williams said.

The alleged July 27 incident touched off a lengthy investigation as prosecutors tried to determine the extent of Gonzalez's alleged connections. The defendants in the murder trial are in the same gang as her brother, Williams said, and she is married to a member of another gang.

Williams said gang members, whose conversations had been taped, were recorded saying Gonzalez had provided information on arrest warrants for gang members, Williams said.

"Gonzalez's actions compromise the integrity of the criminal justice system," Williams told the judge. "And they put in danger all of the people who work in the criminal justice system."

Williams told the judge the Gonzalez home in the 2600 block of West Pershing Road was used for gang meetings and that a raid turned up weapons there.

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