After an approximately three-month trial, four Nuestra
Familia gang members have been convicted for their roles in a wide-ranging
racketeering conspiracy that involved several murders, drug trafficking and
firearms offenses, among other related offenses.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch of the Northern
District of California and Special Agent in Charge John Bennett of the FBI’s
San Francisco Division made the announcement.
Henry Cervantes, 52, aka Happy, of Lodi, California; Alberto
Larez, 48, aka Bird, of Salinas, California; Jaime Cervantes, 33, aka Hennessy,
of San Mateo, California; and Andrew Cervantes, 60, aka Mad Dog, of Stockton,
California, were each convicted today of racketeering conspiracy and other
offenses. In addition, Larez was
convicted of murder in aid of racketeering, use of a firearm in furtherance of
a crime of violence and use of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence
causing death; Jaime Cervantes and Larez were convicted of conspiracy to commit
murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous
weapon in aid of racketeering; Jaime Cervantes was convicted of two counts of
assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to commit a
robbery affecting interstate commerce, robbery affecting interstate commerce
and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence; Henry
Cervantes and Jaime Cervantes were convicted of use of fire to commit a felony,
conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstruction of justice; and Henry and Andrew
Cervantes and Larez were convicted of conspiracy to distribute controlled
substances.
According to evidence presented at trial, Nuestra Familia is
a prison gang that originally formed in the California state prison system in
the 1960s. Nuestra Familia leaders control
and direct the gang’s criminal activities both inside and outside of the prison
system.
According to evidence presented at trial, the defendants
were members or associates of the federal branch of the Nuestra Familia, which
was controlled by two principal overseers incarcerated in the Federal Bureau of
Prisons (BOP), one of whom was Andrew Cervantes while he was serving a
210-month sentence for a 1999 racketeering conviction. Larez and Henry Cervantes were senior gang
members who reported to Andrew Cervantes.
In 2010, Henry Cervantes and Larez were released from the BOP after
serving sentences for racketeering conspiracy convictions in 2004 involving the
distribution of controlled substances on behalf of Nuestra Familia. Larez recruited individuals, including Jaime
Cervantes, to commit crimes on behalf of the gang and Henry Cervantes
supervised the criminal activities of the gang in Oakland, California.
From approximately fall 2010 through March 2013, under the
supervision of Henry Cervantes and Larez, members and associates of Nuestra
Familia engaged in the trafficking of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin and
committed robberies to raise money for themselves and the gang. At the direction of Andrew Cervantes, Larez
instructed his subordinates to send proceeds from their criminal activities by
Western Union to the commissary accounts of gang leaders incarcerated in
several BOP facilities, including the account of Andrew Cervantes. Larez communicated with Andrew Cervantes
primarily through prison phone calls and correspondence using coded language.
Between May and August 2011, Larez and Jaime Cervantes
robbed and assaulted a woman making a bank deposit of proceeds from a gas
station, then robbed the same woman at gunpoint at the gas station, and stabbed
a suspected rival gang member. All of
these crimes were planned and orchestrated by Larez, whose wife worked at the
same gas station.
In September 2011, Henry Cervantes stabbed two victims to
death at an apartment in Oakland and ordered Jaime Cervantes and another gang
member to burn the bodies at the apartment to cover up evidence, which they
proceeded to do.
In January 2012, Jaime Cervantes and two other members
committed a home invasion robbery of a drug dealer. During the robbery, Jaime Cervantes beat one
victim over the head with a baseball bat and another victim was shot.
In August 2012, Larez and two other gang members traveled to
San Jose, California, and lured another gang member suspected of cooperating
with law enforcement to a “meeting,” where he was shot to death while sitting
in his vehicle.
In late 2012, while incarcerated at U.S. Penitentiary (USP)
Lewisburg in Pennsylvania, Andrew Cervantes ordered via coded letters the
murder of an inmate at USP McCreary in Kentucky. In March 2013, the inmate – whom Andrew
Cervantes believed had violated gang rules – was assaulted and stabbed by two
Nuestra Familia inmates in the prison dining facility and survived.
Eight co-defendants previously pleaded guilty to
racketeering conspiracy and other offenses in connection with this case.
The FBI Oakland Resident Agency investigated the case with
the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of California, with
assistance from the BOP. The Santa Clara
County, California, District Attorney’s Office; Oakland Police Department; San
Jose Police Department; Red Bluff, California, Police Department; Livermore,
California, Police Department; Alameda County, California, Sheriff’s Office;
Tehama County, California, District Attorney’s Office; and Tehama County
Sheriff’s Office also assisted in the investigation.
Trial Attorney Robert S. Tully of the Criminal Division’s
Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys William Frentzen
and Joseph M. Alioto of the Northern District of California are prosecuting the
case with assistance from Kevin Costello, Courtney Fisher, Melissa Dorton,
Daniel Charlier-Smith, Lance Libatique and Lauren Hipolito
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