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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
SOUTHERN DIVISION
April 2021 Grand Jury UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. JOHNNY MARTINEZ, aka “Crow,” aka “Gumdrop,” ROBERT AGUIRRE, aka “Rob,” DENNIS ORTIZ, aka “Woody,” aka “Socrates,” OMAR MEJIA, aka “Cruz,” aka “Rascal,” MIGUEL JOSE ALVARADO, aka “Grumpy,” LUIS HERIBERTO VASQUEZ, aka “Moss,” aka “Little Shooter,” aka “Shooter,” MICHAEL COOPER, aka “Shaggy,” GREGORY MUNOZ, aka “Louie,” aka “Louis,” aka “Snoopy,” aka “Snoop,”
No. 8:22-cr-00034(A)-CJC F I R S T S U P E R S E D I N G I N D I C T M E N T [18 U.S.C. § 1962(d): Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Conspiracy; 18 U.S.C. §§ 1959(a)(1), (3), (5), (6): Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering Activity; 21 U.S.C. § 846: Conspiracy to Distribute and Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Heroin; 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A)(viii), (b)(1)(B)(i), (b)(1)(B)(viii), (b)(1)(C): Distribution of and Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Heroin; 18 U.S.C. §§ 924(c)(1)(A)(i), (ii), (iii), (j)(1): Using and Carrying a Firearm During and in Relation to, and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of, a Crime of Violence, and Brandish and Discharge of a Firearm, Resulting in Death; 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1): Felon in Possession of Firearms
DVE
ABRAHAM GUARJARDO,
aka “Abe,” aka “Grumpy,” ROBERT MARTINEZ, aka “Lil Rob,” aka “Blacky,” BRENDA VANESSA CAMPOS MARTINEZ, aka “Miss V,” aka “Vanessa,” DANIELLE CANALES, YSRAEL JACOB CORDOVA, aka “Trips,” aka “Trippy,” RICARDO VALENZUELA, aka “Solo,” KEVIN TREJO, aka “Minor,” JAMES MENDEZ, aka “Lil Buck,” aka “Buck,” MIKE ESCOBAR, aka “Risky,” FRANK MOSQUEDA, aka “Demon,” aka “Pride,” MHER DARBINYAN, aka “Hollywood Mike”, ROBERT AMEZCUA, aka “Flaco,” JONATHAN MARTINEZ, aka “Fabian,” aka “Peanut,” ALEX GONZALEZ, aka “Hitman,” aka “Hector,” ROBERTO ZAYAS, aka “Midnight,” SAUL HERERRA, aka “Sinner,” MARK COOPER, aka “Reckless,” ORLANDO ARBALLO, aka “KO,” MEGAN MORENO,
and Ammunition; 18 U.S.C. § 1963, 21 U.S.C. § 853, 18 U.S.C. § 924(d), 28 U.S.C. § 2461(c): Criminal Forfeiture]
Mexican Mafia operated in the Central District of California and elsewhere. Members of the OC Mexican Mafia were referred to as “Carnales” or “brothers.” To become a brother, a gang member must have a distinguished reputation for “putting in work” on behalf of the OC Mexican Mafia, meaning the gang member had murdered or assaulted enemies and rivals of the OC Mexican Mafia. Prospective members were expected to provide financial assistance to OC Mexican Mafia members, and to follow the OC Mexican Mafia’s rules governing the streets and correctional institutions.
- Members of Hispanic street gangs in Southern California were referred to as “Sureños” or “Southsiders.” Sureños were associates of the OC Mexican Mafia and fell under the control of the OC Mexican Mafia’s members. Members of the OC Mexican Mafia considered Mexican nationals, often referred to as “Paisas,” and Hispanic-American citizens who were not members of a recognized gang, generally referred to as “Residents,” fell under the OC Mexican Mafia’s control while in custody. Paisas and Residents who were trusted by OC Mexican Mafia members could participate in and be given positions in the OC Mexican Mafia’s affairs. Sureños, whether in custody or on the streets, operated as soldiers and workers for the OC Mexican Mafia. Being loyal to the OC Mexican Mafia was an integral part of being a Southern California Hispanic street gang member. It was understood that when individuals joined Southern California gangs, they were joining an entity loyal to the OC Mexican Mafia. Members of such gangs were expected to, and were proud to,
carry out the orders of the OC Mexican Mafia member in control of their neighborhood and custody facility, because “doing work” for the OC Mexican Mafia increased their status and reputation. Some gangs included in their name the number “13,” denoting the letter “M,” or “eme” in Spanish, in order to demonstrate their loyalty and allegiance to the OC Mexican Mafia.
- The Mexican Mafia also aligned with Armenian Power, also known as “AP,” a Los Angeles street gang whose membership consisted primarily of individuals of Armenian descent, as well as of other countries within the former Soviet bloc. The relationship between the Mexican Mafia and Armenian Power was symbiotic: The Mexican Mafia, which has large numbers of incarcerated members and associates, provided protection and status to Armenian Power members and associates within prison. In exchange, Armenian Power members and associates assisted Mexican Mafia members and associates with criminal activities within and outside of prison. As a result, Armenian Power was considered akin to Southern Hispanic street gangs loyal to the Mexican Mafia, and AP members were treated like Sureños.
- Members and associates of street gangs controlled by and affiliated with the OC Mexican Mafia were required to pay monthly “taxes,” called “respects,” to members of the OC Mexican Mafia, the payment of which allowed such street gangs to maintain control and exert influence over their territories, enabling them to distribute illicit drugs and engage in other criminal activity. These “taxes” also ensured the protection of the gang’s members once they entered
within the prison system might be divided among different members of the OC Mexican Mafia.
- OC Mexican Mafia members carried out their criminal activities with the help of associates, often gang members living and working in an OC Mexican Mafia member’s area of control. Some of these trusted associates acted as “shot-callers” or “mouth-pieces,” that is, high-level associates who had been given the authority to conduct enterprise affairs, such as collecting extortionate taxes and drug-trafficking proceeds and enforcing discipline in their particular areas of control. Each shot-caller worked directly under the authority of the OC Mexican Mafia member who appointed him. The shot-caller coordinated the activities of the associates and was responsible for ensuring that the OC Mexican Mafia member’s orders, whether in a neighborhood or jail or prison facility, were carried out. Shot-callers were located both inside and outside of jail and prison facilities. Shot-callers were oftentimes referred to as “Camaradas,” the Spanish word for “comrades,” by OC Mexican Mafia members. Shot-callers often referred to OC Mexican Mafia members as “Tio,” the Spanish word for “uncle,” or other terms of deference.
- The OC Mexican Mafia member in control of a specific custodial facility put together a team of trusted associates to manage and facilitate the criminal activities within the facility. The OC Mexican Mafia’s leadership within the prison or jail was known as a “Mesa.” The Mesa was comprised of trusted associates chosen by
the OC Mexican Mafia member in charge of the facility. The Mesa could include the shot-caller for that facility. If the shot-caller was not on the Mesa, the Mesa would report directly to the shot- caller acting on behalf of the OC Mexican Mafia brother.
- OC Mexican Mafia members required inmates to pay respects on narcotics and other contraband, including cellphones smuggled into the correctional institution and sold within the facility. The money was generally collected by the “Mesa” or “shot-caller” and made to a secretary or facilitator outside of the facility, using Green Dot and other forms of electronic payment, who would then forward the money to the OC Mexican Mafia brother who controlled that facility. Another common method that OC Mexican Mafia members employed to make money was taxing Hispanic gang members and associates who violated enterprise rules, as well as those who wanted to engage in profitable criminal activities in areas controlled by the OC Mexican Mafia. If the gang member or associate did not pay the demanded sum, or had violated OC Mexican Mafia rules, an OC Mexican Mafia leader commonly would order that the person be assaulted until that individual complied. Alternatively, if the non-compliant individual refused to pay, or if the enterprise was not able to punish the individual, the OC Mexican Mafia could extort or punish family members, close associates, members of that person’s gang, or others related to the person. If a person or gang did not meet the OC Mexican Mafia’s payment demands, they were subjected to violence until they complied.
result. Only members of the OC Mexican Mafia were able to put a person, group, or entire gang on the green light list. Those who were put on a green light list could be removed by the payment of a significant fine or an agreement to put in work for the enterprise, such as committing a violent act. Failure to pay monthly respects could result in a whole gang receiving a greenlight, meaning that all members of the gang were subjected to assaults by OC Mexican Mafia members and associates, until the respects were paid.
- Communicating with Orange County street gangs and other OC Mexican Mafia members and associates, both inside and outside of jail and prison facilities, was necessary to facilitate the criminal enterprise. Messages, including instructions and orders, were sent in a variety of ways to avoid law enforcement detection. OC Mexican Mafia members used contraband cellphones, prison system e-mails, letters, “kites” (notes smuggled by prisoners), “verbals” (a verbal message, typically of a sensitive nature, passed from one inmate to another), and messages conveyed to jail and prison visitors in order to communicate directions and instructions to, and to discuss OC Mexican Mafia business with, persons in other facilities and on the streets. OC Mexican Mafia members and associates often used coded language to conceal the true nature of their discussions with and instructions to criminal associates. OC Mexican Mafia members and associates relied on associates, often female, known as “secretaries,” to communicate with incarcerated OC Mexican Mafia members and associates, and relay their instructions to others.
Secretaries were treated as respected criminal figures by members of street gangs controlled by and affiliated with the OC Mexican Mafia.
- Members of the OC Mexican Mafia and their designated subordinates, including secretaries and shot-callers, disseminated instructions to OC Mexican Mafia associates relating to the distribution of controlled substances, the collection of proceeds from the sale of controlled substances and extortions, the taxing of drug dealers, and the commission of acts of violence against persons who violated the OC Mexican Mafia’s rules.
- From in or around 2016, and continuing to at least in or around April 2022, defendants JOHNNY MARTINEZ, also known as (“aka”) “Crow,” aka “Gumdrop” (“MARTINEZ”), ROBERT AGUIRRE, aka “Rob” (“AGUIRRE”), and DENNIS ORTIZ, aka “Woody,” aka “Socrates” (“ORTIZ”), were the OC Mexican Mafia brothers in charge of criminal activities in Orange County and within Orange County jail and prison facilities. Defendants OMAR MEJIA, aka “Cruz,” aka “Rascal” (“MEJIA”), MIGUEL JOSE ALVARADO, aka “Grumpy” (“ALVARADO”), LUIS HERIBERTO VASQUEZ, aka “Moss,” aka “Little Shooter,” aka “Shooter” (“VASQUEZ”), MICHAEL COOPER, aka “Shaggy” (“COOPER”), and ABRAHAM GUARJARDO, aka “Abe,” aka “Grumpy” (“GUARJARDO”), held the positions of shot-callers or mouthpieces for defendants MARTINEZ, AGUIRRE, and ORTIZ. Defendant ROBERT MARTINEZ, aka “Lil Rob,” aka “Blacky” (“R. MARTINEZ”), held a position on the Orange County Jail Mesa representing defendant MARTINEZ. Defendant BRENDA VANESSA CAMPOS MARTINEZ, aka “Miss V,” aka “Vanessa” (“CAMPOS”), served as a secretary for defendant
facilities, and the extortion of others engaged in the distribution of controlled substances and other crimes in Orange County and within Orange County correctional facilities; c. Promoting and enhancing the Enterprise and the activities of its leaders, members, and associates, by, among other things, engaging in murder, extortion, drug trafficking, and other criminal activities; d. Engaging in extortion and drug trafficking as a means to generate income for the Enterprise; e. Punishing Enterprise members and associates who did not comply with the rules and orders of the Enterprise, including those who cooperated with law enforcement; f. Keeping victims, potential victims, and community members in fear of the Enterprise through violence and threats of violence; g. Hindering, obstructing, and preventing law enforcement officers from identifying participants in the Enterprise’s criminal activities, from apprehending the perpetrators of those crimes, and from prosecuting and punishing the offenders. D. MEANS AND METHODS OF THE ENTERPRISE
- The means and methods by which members and associates of the OC Mexican Mafia conducted and participated in the conduct of the affairs of the Enterprise included, but were not limited to, the following:
a. To generate income, members and associates of the Enterprise engaged in illegal activities under the protection of the Enterprise, including drug trafficking within Orange County correctional facilities and in Orange County neighborhoods, taxing drug dealers operating in neighborhoods controlled by the Enterprise, extorting inmates by taxing in-custody criminal activity, collecting respects from Hispanic street gangs under the control of the Enterprise, and other criminal conduct. b. To enforce discipline within the Enterprise, members and associates of the Enterprise punished errant members and associates for violations of the OC Mexican Mafia’s rules. Discipline ranged from a fine or an assault to being placed on the “green light” list, whereupon the “greenlighted” individual could be murdered on behalf of the Enterprise. c. To identify persons in bad standing, coordinate the movement of drugs and communications in prison, and conduct other Enterprise business, members and associates of the OC Mexican Mafia kept track of Southern California Hispanic gang members through lists known as “roll calls,” which were made to keep track of every Sureño in a particular module or dorm of a jail or prison. Such lists often included the Sureño’s name, booking number, next court date, gang, and/or moniker. d. To facilitate and maintain control of criminal activities in areas controlled by the Enterprise, both inside and outside of correctional facilities, members and associates of the
E. THE RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY
- Beginning in or around 2016, and continuing to at least on or about April 20, 2022, in the Central District of California, and elsewhere, defendants MARTINEZ, AGUIRRE, ORTIZ, MEJIA, ALVARADO, VASQUEZ, COOPER, GUARJARDO, R. MARTINEZ, CAMPOS, and CANALES (collectively “the Defendants”), and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, being persons employed by, and associated with, the OC Mexican Mafia, an enterprise engaged in, and the activities of which affected, interstate and foreign commerce, knowingly and intentionally conspired to violate Title 18, United States Code, Section 1962(c), that is, to conduct and participate, directly and indirectly, in the conduct of the affairs of the Enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, as defined in Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1961(1) and (5), which consisted of: a. Multiple acts involving murder, in violation of California Penal Code Sections 21a, 31, 182, 187, 189, and 664; b. Multiple acts involving extortion, in violation of California Penal Code Sections 21a, 31, 182, 518, 519, 524, and 664; c. Multiple acts involving robbery, in violation of California Penal Code Sections 21a, 31, 182, 211, and 664; d. Multiple offenses involving trafficking in controlled substances, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(1) and 846; and
e. Multiple acts indictable under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951 (relating to interfering with commerce by robbery and extortion). It was further part of the conspiracy that each defendant agreed that a conspirator would commit at least two acts of racketeering activity in the conduct of the affairs of the enterprise. F. OVERT ACTS
- In furtherance of the conspiracy, and to achieve the object thereof, the Defendants, and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury, committed and caused to be committed various acts within the Central District of California, and elsewhere, including, but not limited to, the following: Overt Act No. 1: On an unknown date between in or around August 2016 and in or around January 2017, OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise associate Gregory Munoz, aka “Louie,” aka “Louis,” aka “Snoopy,” aka “Snoop” (“Munoz”), on behalf of defendant MARTINEZ, directed two OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise associates known to the Grand Jury to deliver extortionate “taxes” collected from three individuals, totaling approximately $1500, to an unidentified female in Compton, California. Overt Act No. 2: On or about January 19, 2017, immediately before and after the murder of R.R., defendant MARTINEZ and OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise associate Munoz spoke on the phone. Overt Act No. 3: On or about January 19, 2017, OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise associate Munoz, on behalf of defendant MARTINEZ,
Overt Act No. 8: On or about March 28, 2017, defendant MARTINEZ ordered that OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise member Munoz be removed from his position as a shot-caller with the OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise. Overt Act No. 9: On or about March 28, 2017, as a result of defendant MARTINEZ’s order, OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise associates known to the Grand Jury assaulted OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise member Munoz while he was in custody in Calipatria State Prison, causing bodily injury to Munoz. Overt Act No. 10: On or about April 6, 2017, OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise associates known to the Grand Jury used handmade weapons to assault OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise member Munoz while he was in custody in Calipatria State Prison, causing serious bodily injury to Munoz’s head and ear. This assault occurred as a result of defendant MARTINEZ’s order to remove Munoz as a shot-caller with the OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise. Overt Act No. 11: Between on or about April 17, 2017 through on or about April 25, 2017, defendants MARTINEZ and GUARJARDO, and others known to the Grand Jury, discussed and agreed to sell approximately three ounces of heroin for $2,000. Overt Act No. 12: On or about April 17, 2017, defendant GUARJARDO contacted a person he believed to be a methamphetamine buyer, but who was in fact a confidential informant working with law enforcement (“CI-1”), to set up a sale of three ounces of heroin for $2,000.
Overt Act No. 13: On or about April 18, 2017, in a series of telephone calls, defendant GUARJARDO advised CI-1 that defendant MARTINEZ was setting up the heroin deal, confirmed that it would cost $2,000 for three ounces of heroin, and discussed how much CI-1 would need to pay in “tax” from the drug sale to defendants MARTINEZ and AGUIRRE. Overt Act No. 14: On or about April 21, 2017, defendant GUARJARDO contacted CI-1 to advise that defendant MARTINEZ texted that the heroin deal would proceed. Several minutes later, CI- received a telephone call from OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise associate Lorraine Robles (“Robles”) to arrange a meeting location for the heroin deal. Overt Act No. 15: On or about April 21, 2017, OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise associate Robles, acting on behalf of an individual known to the Grand Jury, sold approximately 46.6 grams of a mixture and substance containing a detectable amount of heroin to CI-1 in exchange for $1,400. Overt Act No. 16: During the heroin deal on April 21, 2017, defendant GUARJARDO spoke with OC Mexican Mafia Enterprise associate Robles via telephone to advise that defendant MARTINEZ had arranged for three ounces of heroin, not two. Overt Act No. 17: Between on or about April 21, 2017 through on or about May 13, 2017, defendants MARTINEZ, GUARJARDO, and CAMPOS, and others known to the Grand Jury, attempted to extort $800 in the form of “respects” and “taxes” from CI-1, whom the defendants
