SANTA ANA, California
Three prison inmates were found guilty of second-degree murder in the beating death of another inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution II in Victorville, the Justice Department announced Thursday.
A federal jury found that on Oct. 1, 2013, the defendants murdered a 38-year-old inmate Javier Sanchez.
A spokesman for the Department of Justice, Ciaran McEvoy, said the evidence at trial indicated that Sanchez was told to stop using drugs. Sanchez was also allegedly skimming money from the Sureños Prison Gang, McEvoy said.
According to federal and state authorities, Sureños , Southern United Raza, Sur 13 or Sureños X3 are groups of loosely affiliated gangs that pay tribute to the Mexican Mafia while in U.S. state and federal correctional facilities.
Federal officials stated that Sanchez was repeatedly hit and kicked, dying because of blunt force trauma to the head.
The defendants who were found guilty late Wednesday are:
- Aurelio Patino, a.k.a. “Augie,” 39, most recently of Riverside, who at the time of the murder was serving a 16-month sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and previously was serving an eight-year sentence in a California state prison;
- Christopher Ruiz, a.k.a. 48, most recently of San Diego, is serving a 10-year sentence after being convicted of racketeering and methamphetamine-related charges.
- Jose Villegas, a.k.a. “Torch,” 41, most recently of Los Angeles, who is serving a 15-year sentence in a methamphetamine case.
According to evidence presented at their six-day trial, Sanchez was escorted to the recreation yard inside the prison, where he was attacked.
Patino, Ruiz, and Villegas used their hands and feet to strike Sanchez.
Officials previously said an inmate named Javier Sanchez was found beaten to death at the same prison on Oct. 1, 2013.
In addition to the murder charge, all three defendants pleaded guilty in November 2022 to conspiracy to commit the second-degree murder of Sanchez.
U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney scheduled a June 12 sentencing hearing. The defendants are facing up to life in prison.
The FBI investigated this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory S. Scally, Gregory W. Staples, and Faraz R. Mohammadi of the Santa Ana Branch Office are prosecuting this case.