Man Sentenced to Serve 114 Months in Federal Prison for Violating the Hobbs Act
| U.S. Attorney’s Office February 22, 2011 |
United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced that today United States District Judge Thomas J. Whelan sentenced Armando Navarro to serve 114 months’ in custody and three years of supervised release based on his conviction for violating the Hobbs Act by engaging in extortion affecting interstate commerce, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951. Navarro’s sentence follows his guilty plea on April 20, 2010.
According to court records, Navarro—a Ysidro street gang member—and two other gang members lured a drug trafficker into a vehicle driven by Navarro in order to rob the drug dealer. Once in the car, Navarro and his associates took drugs from the drug dealer before forcing the dealer from the moving car. Police tried to intercede, but Navarro led them on a vehicle chase. Heroin was thrown out of Navarro’s car during the chase. Navarro eventually yielded to police and was taken into custody.
United States Attorney Duffy praised the coordinated effort of the multi-agency North County Regional Gang Task Force for its contributions to this case. Navarro’s sentence was the last related to the investigation that led to the prosecution of 12 gang members and their associates for a variety of crimes in addition to these extortion charges, including drug trafficking and firearms-related offenses.
DEFENDANT
Case Number: 08CR3657-W
Armando Navarro
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Extortion Affecting Interstate Commerce, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951.
AGENCIES
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Oceanside Police Department
- San Diego Police Department
- San Diego County Sheriff's Office
- Naval Criminal Investigative Service
- Immigration and Customs Enforcement
- Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosi