LOS ANGELES
Federal and local law enforcement officials Tuesday announced the unsealing of federal grand jury indictments charging a total of 37 members and associates of the South Los Angeles-based Florencia 13 (F13) street gang, officials stated.
Officials also allege a series of crimes, including fentanyl trafficking, extortion, and three murders, including that of a man beaten to death outside a bar in the gang’s “territory.”
Tuesday’s takedown resulted in the arrests of 23 F13 members and associates who are expected to be arraigned on 11 indictments this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles. Six of the defendants were already in state or federal custody, and authorities continue to search for eight other defendants charged in these cases, including multiple defendants currently believed to be fugitives in Mexico.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) operation.
Click here to view the press conference on arrests
As part of this investigation, law enforcement has seized approximately 21 pounds of methamphetamine, nine pounds of fentanyl, and 6.5 pounds of heroin. Authorities also have seized 25 firearms and approximately $70,000 in cash connected to this investigation.
“Florencia-13 is known for its barbaric tactics, which, tragically, resulted in several murders alleged in the indictment,” said Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Residents of the community in which Florencia-13 operates deserve to live their lives without fear from violence and extortion, and this joint investigation demonstrates our shared commitment to that goal.”
The bulk of the charges in today’s takedown come from two federal grand jury indictments targeting Florencia 13.
The first indictment charges 19 defendants – including Celerino Jaramillo, 30, a.k.a. “Bizzy,” of South Los Angeles, a “shot caller” in one of F13’s cliques, with conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Among a series of alleged racketeering-related crimes, during one incident on October 17, 2022, a mob of F13 members – including Jonathan Reyes, 19, a.k.a. “Creeper,” of South Los Angeles – beat one victim to death in the early morning outside a bar in the Florence-Firestone neighborhood of Los Angeles.
The victim was repeatedly stomped, kicked, punched, and beaten with a baseball bat.
The indictment further alleges that Jaramillo and co-defendant Oscar Hernandez, 30, a.k.a. “Drex,” of South Los Angeles, murdered a victim identified in court documents as “R.A.,” an F13 member who had violated the gang’s rules.
The day after R.A. was shot and killed, Jaramillo allegedly told fellow gang members that he wanted Hernandez inducted into F13’s Jokers clique because he “proved [Jaramillo] solid.”
The following month, Jaramillo and Hugo Armando Pineda, 36, a.k.a. “Menace,” of South Los Angeles, allegedly murdered “D.E.,” another F13 member in bad standing.
The rest of this superseding indictment alleges a series of criminal activity by Jaramillo and others, including the running of “casitas,” or illegal after-hours bars and clubs, including collection of extortionate “taxes” from them, trafficking of narcotics such as fentanyl and methamphetamine, and illegal use and possession of firearms.
A second indictment unsealed Tuesday charges eight Florencia 13 associates—including Saul Ayon Quintero, 50, of Bellflower—with drug-related crimes, including conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin, and illegally using and possessing firearms and ammunition.
Finally, nine additional Florencia 13 members and associates are charged in eight separate indictments with methamphetamine distribution counts, and another Florencia 13 member is charged in a separate indictment with possession of an unregistered firearm and being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
An indictment alleges that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
If convicted, most of the defendants would face up to life in prison.
The FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service are investigating this matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher C. Kendall and Daniel H. Weiner of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section are prosecuting these cases.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.