East L.A. Gang Member Who Led Firebomb Attacks on African American Residences Sentenced to 16 Years in Federal Prison

             LOS ANGELES – A senior member of the Big Hazard street gang was sentenced this morning to 192 months in federal prison for orchestrating and executing the nighttime firebombing of African American families at the Ramona Gardens Housing Development in Boyle Heights in 2014 in order to force the residents out of their homes.

            Carlos Hernandez, 36, aka “Rider” and “Creeper,” was sentenced by United States District Judge Christina A. Snyder. During the hearing, Judge Snyder explained that her sentence was intended to “send a message to the community that hate crimes will not be tolerated” and that this was “not a time for any court to tolerate hate crimes.”

            Hernandez pleaded guilty in April 2019 to five felony counts: conspiracy to violate civil rights, violent crime in aid of racketeering, criminal interference with fair housing rights, use of fire in the commission of a federal felony, and carrying a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence.

            “The defendants in this case perpetrated hate crimes that targeted innocent victims in their homes simply because of their skin color,” said Acting United States Attorney Tracy L. Wilkison. “These despicable acts are simply unacceptable in our society. We are committed to protecting everyone’s civil rights, and anyone who participates in this type of conduct will find that the federal government will marshal all of its resources to ensure they are brought to justice.”

            “There is absolutely no place for race-based violence in a civilized society,” said Kristi K. Johnson, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Investigators worked diligently to identify Mr. Hernandez as the one who masterminded this crime and arrested Hernandez and others before they could target any other innocent victims. The FBI will continue to protect the civil rights of our community by holding responsible anyone so filled with hate that they would attempt to commit such heinous violence based on the color of a victim’s skin.”

            “The defendant planned, coordinated, and led these racially-motivated attacks that targeted vulnerable families, including grandparents and infants, while they were sleeping peacefully in their own homes,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will continue to prioritize the prosecution of hate-fueled violence.”

            On the evening of May 11, 2014, which was Mother’s Day, Hernandez organized and led seven co-defendants – all members of the Big Hazard street gang – in a plan to firebomb several apartments in the Ramona Gardens housing complex. Hernandez and his co-defendants targeted each of the residences because African Americans lived there.  Hernandez divided the defendants into groups to carry out the firebombings, assigned each defendant a specific role within those groups, and provided various defendants with a lighter or hammer to be used in the attacks, as well as masks to conceal their identities. The defendants stashed their cell phones to prevent law enforcement tracking and traveled a predetermined route designed to evade surveillance cameras. Heightening the dangerousness of the attacks, Hernandez armed himself with a semiautomatic handgun.

            Once the gang members located the targeted apartments, they smashed the windows of four apartments to allow for cleaner entry of the firebombs to maximize damage. Hernandez and his co-defendants then threw lit Molotov cocktails into the residences. Three of the four targeted apartments were occupied by African American families who were sleeping at the time of the unprovoked attack. A mother who was sleeping with her infant baby on her chest at the time of the attack barely evaded being hit by a firebomb when she rolled off the couch with her baby after hearing a window shatter.

            A federal task force with numerous federal agencies and local partners was established to investigate the attack, which remained unsolved for two years until prosecutors unsealed the charges in this matter.

            All of the defendants who participated in the firebombing were charged in 2016 and have pleaded guilty to federal hate crime and related offenses. Those defendants all admitted that they participated in the firebombing attacks because of the victims’ race and color and with the intent to force the victims to move away from the federally funded housing complex.

            Today’s sentencing hearing follows the sentencings of several other defendants in this case: Jose Saucedo, aka “Lil Mo,” who was ordered to serve 156 months; Josue Garibay, aka “Malo,” who received a 12-year sentence; Jonathan Portillo, aka “Pelon,” sentenced to 63 months; Francisco Farias, aka “Bones,” who was ordered to serve 42 months; and Edwin Felix, aka “Boogie,” who received a 92-month sentence.

            The investigation into the firebombing was conducted by agents and detectives with the FBI; the Los Angeles Police Department; the Los Angeles Fire Department; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

            This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mack E. Jenkins, Chief of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and Justice Department Special Litigation Counsel Julia Gegenheimer of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section.