CROWN POINT | The Lake County court security officer charged with recruiting for the Latin Kings street gang lost a brother and friend to gang-related violence nearly two years ago, a police source confirmed Thursday.

Jesse Escobedo, 30, was fired from his government center security job and charged this week with felony criminal gang recruitment, Lake Criminal court records show.

The Hammond man's brother Jose "Joey" Escobedo Jr. and friend Quinton Griffith were fatally shot Sept. 6, 2002, outside the former Brothers Two tavern in Hammond, the Hammond Police Department source said.

Lake County resident Jesse Ramirez admitted in Lake County Criminal Court earlier this year to shooting the two men after he accused them of being members of the Latin Kings street gang, court records state.

Ramirez was a member of the rival Gangster Disciple gang at the time, court records show.

He currently is serving a 30-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of voluntary manslaughter, court records show.

Jesse Escobedo was charged Wednesday for recruiting a prospective gang member into the same Latin Kings street gang with which his brother and friend were accused of consorting, court records show.

Escobedo called the prospective gang member from his cell phone Aug. 5 in a parking lot near the intersection of 93rd Avenue and Main Street in Crown Point, police said. Escobedo worked security at the Lake County Government Complex, which is at that intersection.

The Lake County Drug Task Force was investigating Escobedo on allegations of gang activity, sheriff's spokesman Mike Higgins said.

The prospective member was a former gang member aiding the task force in its investigation, court records state.

Police said Escobedo told the prospective member the Latin Kings were "protected with guns and had cocaine to sell for money."

Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez fired Escobedo on Wednesday for "conduct unbecoming a county employee" and arrested him on the felony recruitment charge, Higgins said.

Escobedo had been a court security officer since 2004, police said.

Dominguez said Escobedo had a number of minor disciplinary issues on the job, such as tardiness.