LOS ANGELES
Four Pomona gang members and Mexican Mafia associates were found guilty Friday of racketeering crimes.
This includes the 2020 murder of a federal inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Los Angeles, according to authorities.
Following a 20-day trial, a jury convicted:
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Michael Lerma, 68 (“Pomona Mike” / “Big Mike”)
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Carlos Gonzalez, 41 (“Popeye”)
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Juan Sanchez, 33 (“Squeaks”)
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Jose Valencia Gonzalez, 44 (“Swifty”)
All were found guilty of RICO conspiracy, VICAR murder, and first-degree murder within U.S. jurisdiction. Lerma and Valencia Gonzalez were also convicted of drug conspiracy involving meth and heroin. Gonzalez and Valencia Gonzalez were found guilty of firearm possession as felons.
All defendants have been in federal custody since 2018.
FBI Assistant Director Akil Davis said the case highlights how Mexican Mafia operations extend beyond prison walls.
The FBI and local law enforcement worked for years to dismantle this network.
Evidence showed that from 2012 to 2020, Lerma controlled drug proceeds from Latino gangs in Pomona and inmates in Calipatria State Prison. His group also engaged in drug trafficking, robbery, fraud, and extortion.
In June 2020, acting on Lerma’s orders, Gonzalez, Valencia Gonzalez, and Sanchez murdered an inmate—identified only as “S.B.”—over unpaid drug debts tied to Lerma’s faction of the Mexican Mafia.
U.S. District Judge George H. Wu will set sentencing dates soon. All four face mandatory life sentences.
To date, 16 people have been convicted in the case. That includes Cheryl Perez-Castaneda, 62, serving 12 years for soliciting murder and aiding a 2013 carjacking attempt. Kelly Deshannon, 43, is serving over seven years for robbery, extortion, and narcotics trafficking.
The FBI’s San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Task Force led the investigation with help from the Pomona and El Monte Police Departments, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department, and the DEA.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kyle Kahan, Jason Gorn, and Kellye Ng are prosecuting the case.