37 Charged in Federal RICO Case Against Florencia 13 Gang Members in Los Angeles

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Dozens of alleged members and associates of a South Los Angeles street gang - including 23 defendants arrested Tuesday, are facing federal charges including murder, fentanyl trafficking and extortion, prosecutors announced.

Federal grand jury indictments unsealed Tuesday in downtown Los Angeles charge a total of 37 defendants, some of whom were already in state or federal custody, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The defendants are alleged to be members of the South Los Angeles-based Florencia 13 (F13) gang.

Authorities continue to search for 8 defendants, including multiple people currently believed to be fugitives in Mexico.

As part of the investigation, law enforcement allegedly seized nearly 21 pounds of methamphetamine, nine pounds of fentanyl and 6.5 pounds of heroin. Authorities also have seized 25 firearms and about $70,000 in cash connected to the investigation, prosecutors said.

"Through murder, drug trafficking, violent robberies, and other criminal behavior, street gangs bring devastation upon our communities,'' U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement.

"We must stand united against gang violence. Today's arrests and seizures demonstrate that we will be relentless in combating these criminal organizations," he said.

The gang, which dates back some 70 years in South L.A., gained notoriety following the shooting death of LAPD Officer Fernando Arroyos, who was off-duty and house-hunting with his girlfriend when they were targeted in an armed robbery on Jan. 10, 2022.

Three Florencia 13 gang members, Jesse Contreras, Luis Alfredo de la Rosa Rios and Ernesto Cisneros, pleaded guilty in 2023 to federal racketeering charges for their roles in the robbery and fatal shooting of Arroyos. The men were sentenced to long terms in federal prison, 50 years each for Cisneros and Rios and 35 for Contreras. In their pleas, they admitted killing Arroyos as part of gang activity perpetrated by Florencia 13.

Among those named in court papers charged was Celerino "Bizzy" Jaramillo, 30, of South Los Angeles, an alleged highly placed gang member, who faces federal charges of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

During one incident in October 2022, a mob of the gang's members, allegedly including Jonathan "Creeper" Reyes, 19, also of South Los Angeles, beat one victim to death in the early morning outside a bar in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood. The victim was stomped, kicked, punched, and beaten with a baseball bat, federal prosecutors contend.

The indictment further alleges that Jaramillo and co-defendant Oscar "Drex" Hernandez, 30, of South Los Angeles, on June 19, 2023, murdered a victim identified in court documents as 'R.A.', a gang member who had violated the gang's rules, that victim has been identified as F13 gang member Randy "Blue Devil" and fellow gang members actually held a vigil for him.

The day after "Blue Devil" was shot and killed, Jaramillo allegedly told fellow gang members that he wanted Hernandez inducted into the Joker Clique of the gang because he proved to be "solid," according to papers filed in LA federal court.

The following month, Jaramillo and Hugo "Menace" Armando Pineda, 36, of South Los Angeles, allegedly murdered 'D.E.,' another gang member in bad standing, according to prosecutors.

The rest of the updated indictment alleges a series of criminal activity by Jaramillo and others, including the running of "casitas," or illegal after-hours bars and clubs, involving the collection of extortionate "taxes" and the trafficking of narcotics such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, and the illegal use and possession of firearms, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A second indictment unsealed Tuesday charges eight alleged gang associates - including Saul Ayon Quintero, 50, of Bellflower - with drug-related crimes, including conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin, and illegally using and possessing firearms and ammunition.

Finally, nine additional gang members and associates are charged in eight separate indictments with methamphetamine distribution counts, and another gang member is charged in a separate indictment with possession of an unregistered firearm and being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, prosecutors said.

If convicted, most of the defendants would face a sentence between 10 years and life in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Source ABC7, DOJ, LA Times, Barrio Tales

Categories: los angeles, street gangs