San Jose Street Gang Members Federally Indicted for Racketeering and Murder

SAN FRANCISCO/SAN JOSE—A 41-count second superseding indictment against 27 members and associates of Sur Santos Pride, a San Jose-based criminal street gang, alleging a variety of charges, including a RICO conspiracy, violent crimes in aid of racketeering, including murder, several drug trafficking counts, and firearms related counts, was unsealed today, announced United States Attorney Melinda Haag and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson.

The defendants named in the second superseding indictment are as follows:

1. MIGUEL MIRANDA, a/k/a “Payaso,” 27
2. GILBERTO VILLELA, a/k/a “Snowman,” 32
3. JESSE AGUILAR, a/k/a “Munchies,” 31
4. FRANCISCO FONSECA, a/k/a “Griffo,” 28
5. JORGE CISNEROS, a/k/a “Sleepy,” 28
6. DANIEL CORTEZ, a/k/a “Little Temper,” 21
7. JOSE DAVID SANCHEZ, a/k/a “Joker,” 32
8. MIGUEL VASQUEZ, a/k/a “Tweety,” 29
9. JUAN CHAVEZ, a/k/a/ “Dukester,” 29
10. MARCOS SALVADOR LOMELI, a/k/a “Cookie,” 27
11. JESSE PARRA, a/k/a “Little Looney,” 31
12. ANDY LAMB LOPEZ, a/k/a “Solo,” 36
13. JOSE ANGEL MORENO, a/k/a “Lil Chocolate,” 30
14. FERNANDO CRUZ, a/k/a “Nano,” 23
15. ALFREDO MOLDONADO, a/k/a “Junior,” 35
16. JESUS MANUEL ARMENDARIZ, a/k/a “Chumel,” 22
17. FELIX HERNADEZ CRISTOBAL, a/k/a “Pato,” 22
18. JORGE LUIS OLIVERA, a/k/a “Chivo,” 20
19. MARIO GUERRERO, a/k/a “Lil Junior,” 22
20. BENITO CANALES, a/k/a “Dopey,” 32
21. RAFAEL MARISCAL CAMBEROS, a/k/a “Bad Boy,” 23
22. ROBERTO MARTINEZ, a/k/a “Espantos,” 32
23. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, a/k/a “Brownie,” 24
24. OSCAR MARTINEZ DE LA CRUZ, a/k/a “Cuete,” 27
25. RICARDO MONTOYA, a/k/a “Necio,” 23
26. MARIO CARDENAS, a/k/a “Trusty,” 20
27. DENIS SANDOVAL, a/k/a “Criminal,” 26

The RICO conspiracy count and the violent crimes in aid of racketeering counts arise from the defendants’ participation as members and associates in the racketeering enterprise known as Sur Santos Pride (SSP). According to the second superseding indictment, SSP constitutes a racketeering enterprise and its members and associates agreed to conduct the affairs of the enterprise through, among other crimes, murder, attempted murder, assault, robbery, narcotics trafficking, obstruction of justice, and tampering with witnesses.

Two defendants, including Roberto Martinez, are also charged with one count of murder in aid of racketeering committed on October 23, 2011. The defendants charged in the RICO conspiracy face up to life in prison. Roberto Martinez is subject to a sentence of life imprisonment or possibly the death penalty.

The second superseding indictment also includes a number of drug trafficking and firearms offenses committed between August 2010 and January 30, 2014. Many of these defendants on the drug trafficking charges face a maximum of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison.

Any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, in accordance with 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a). In addition, although Roberto Martinez is eligible for the death penalty, the decision whether to seek the death penalty against him is pending. Please note, an indictment contains only allegations against a person, and, as with all defendants, those charged in this case must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

This indictment is the result of a long term investigation the by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Santa Clara County Violent Crime Task Force, with the assistance of the following agencies: San Jose Police Department, Milpitas Police Department, Morgan Hill Police Department, Mountain View Police Department, Sunnyvale Public Safety Service, Santa Clara Police Department, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, Santa Clara County Probation, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Cynthia Frey, Stephen Meyer, and Amie Rooney are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys who are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kurt Kosek, Ponly Tu, and Tracey Andersen.