Alleged Sureño Gang Members Indicted In Series Of Murders
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A federal grand jury has indicted 10 reputed members of a San Francisco Mission District gang for their alleged roles in several murders dating back more than a decade.
The indictment was unsealed on Friday a day after the arrest of six suspects, along with a seventh suspect taken into custody at the Santa Clara County Jail, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Three more suspects are already in federal prison.
The arrests involved a multi-agency operation of about 200 law enforcement officers which included the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and police from San Francisco, Richmond and Pacifica
According to the indictment, the 10 suspects belong to the 19th Street/16 Street Sureños and were involved in seven murders in San Francisco and Richmond between 2006 and 2013.
The suspects were accused of searching for, shooting at, and murdering rival gang members and suspected rival gang members. Nine of those indicted were alleged to have been directly involved in at least one murder, while the tenth was alleged to have helped plan a "hunt" which led to one of the murders.
The men, all between 29 and 38 years old, also face assault, robbery, drug and weapons charges.
"Six of these ten accused Sureños gang members arrested were still at large, living in your neighborhood less than 48 hours ago," said HSI Special Agent in Charge Ryan Spradlin.
The effort to bring the men into custody involved close coordination between SFPD and HSI - the investigative arm of ICE, as Spradlin earlier noted in a statement.
"It's the public who should commend the SFPD for pushing aside misconceptions about our mission and partnering with us in the interest of taking advantage of the critical public safety work HSI does," said Spradlin.
I'd like to thank Special Agent in Charge Spradlin, he understand what our laws are, what our policies are, and we have a mutual respect," said Scott. Earlier in a statement, Scott said investigators hoped their work helps bring some closure to victims' families. "We hope that these arrests will bring a measure of comfort and healing to the families of the victims, many of whom have waited years for justice."
Spradlin said the six suspects arrested Thursday were all in the country legally. The ten defendants indicted were identified as:
JONATHAN AGUILAR, a/k/a "Trompo" 31
LUIS CID-SALINAS, a/k/a "Lonely," a/k/a "Lonely Boy" 33
JUAN CARLOS GALLARDO, a/k/a "Huero" 29
JOSUE GONZALEZ, a/k/a "Ghost," a/k/a "Fedi" 36
ORLANDO HERNANDEZ, a/k/a "Chisto" 35
MICHAEL REBOLLEDO, a/k/a "Gallo" 30
MARIO REYES, a/k/a "Shy Boy" 38
LUIS ROJAS, a/k/a "Grizz," a/k/a "Grizzly" 31
EDDY URBINA, a/k/a "Rhino" 29
WESTON VENEGAS, a/k/a "Cartoon" 30
