MS-13 gang member sentenced to 17 years for Pacifica murder
SAN FRANCISCO -- Kevin Guatemala Zepeda was sentenced to 17 years in prison in connection with a murder in Pacifica and other Bay Area crimes committed by the notorious MS-13 gang.
United States Attorney Stephanie M. Hinds announced the sentencing along with a 7-year prison term handed down for fellow gang member Fernando Romero Bonilla.
Zepeda and Bonilla were two of 13 defendants named in a second superseding indictment filed on November 4, 2021. The indictment described a broad range of racketeering crimes committed by MS-13 in the Bay Area.
Among the crimes described in the indictment is the murder of a suspected gang rival in the parking lot of the Gray Whale Cove trail in Pacifica.
Zepeda admitted to participating in the planning of the murder at Gray Whale Cove and providing the weapons that his associates used to commit the murder.
According to his plea agreement, Zepeda acknowledged that he retrieved from his house the gun and machete used in the murder. In addition, after fellow gang members committed the murder, Zepeda drove to the murder scene to remove a piece of evidence that would have implicated his gang mates.
Meanwhile, Bonilla pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and a January 24, 2019, assault on a family in the Mission District that included a 15-year-old boy.
He also admitted to attempting to cover up the murder at Gray Whale Cove by removing a piece of potentially incriminating evidence.