The dangerous ringleader of a group of thugs that robbed and killed local merchant Juan Madera in 2002 is off the streets.

Carlos “Chino” Mendoza pled guilty several weeks ago to robbery in the first degree for his role in Madera’s death during a botched home invasion. He is serving 14 years in prison.

Police said that around midnight, on Oct.16, 2002, Mendoza and three others approached Madera, 38, in his apartment building at 3593 Bainbridge Ave., demanding access to his home. When Madera — accompanied by two friends — refused, fearing for the safety of his wife and two sons inside, he was stabbed in the abdomen by one of Mendoza’s partners, Estile Gonzalez.

According to the detective who led the investigation, Detective Ronald Wilhelmy, Mendoza had heard that Madera had applied for a business loan and believed he had cash in his home. The three men made off with $140 and some jewelry.

“Chino planned the whole thing,” said Wilhelmy, who is now with the Internal Affairs Bureau..

Madera owned and operated the Los Compadres convenience store on the corner of East 213th Street and Bainbridge Avenue.

Mendoza was known to terrorize Norwood residents.

“He made his living doing home invasions,” said Wilhelmy, who added that Mendoza was rumored to be second in command of the Bronx Latin Kings, a notoriously violent gang. “It’s good for people to know he won’t be out there anymore.”

Two of Mendoza’s cohorts — Jonathon “Gordo” DeLeon and Julio “Monster” DeLeon — were arrested in July 2004 in connection with the incident and are on trial for murder in the second degree. They face life imprisonment if convicted.

Gonzalez, in prison for manslaughter, provided tips to police that Wilhelmy said led to Mendoza’s conviction.

Mendoza was indicted in January while serving two years in Pennsylvania for an unrelated charge.

As the Norwood News reported in October, 2002, Madera’s death shocked and saddened many in the community, including another resident of 3593 Bainbridge, Ruben Romana.

“He was a good person. He didn’t hurt nobody,” Romana said. Within a week after the stabbing Romana had decorated his lower right arm with a tattoo of a cross and his friend’s name. “I considered him my best friend.”

A friend who was with Madera just before he was killed, Miguel Rojas, said he was “just a working guy trying to make it from day to day.”

Madera’s Los Compadres bodega has since been sold by his family, but visitors to the block are reminded of him at a colorful mural honoring him around the corner from where he worked and across the street from where he lived.