Four members of a Los Angeles-based street gang have pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and other charges for their roles in identity theft, bank fraud, money laundering and other criminal activity, federal prosecutors in California announced Wednesday. Sporting nicknames such as "Guilty" and "Thick Neck," four members of the so-called Armenian Power gang, which has been around since the 1980s and has ties to other gangs, pleaded guilty. They are: Karo Yerkanyan, 32, of Tujunga; Arman Tangabekyan, 34, of Encino; Artur Pembejian, 36, of Burbank; and Raymond Tarverdyan, 35, of Montrose. One of the group's criminal schemes victimized hundreds of customers of 99 Cents Only Stores across Southern California, prosecutors said. The defendants caused more than $2 million in losses by secretly installing "skimming" devices to steal customer debit card account information at cash registers. They used the data to create counterfeit debit cards that were passed to "runners" who used
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