US EditionTeens from LA gang plead guilty to shootings linked to cartel, Mexican Mafia
Two teens admitted to attempted murder and murder linked to a Mexican Mafia-affiliated gang, hired by the Sinaloa Cartel and expecting $50,000 each, prosecutors said.
- Thursday, two Los Angeles-area 15-year-old gang members pleaded guilty in federal court to murder and attempted murder, admitting they acted as hired hitmen for Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel.
- Prosecutors say recruiters targeted the teens because of their age under California law passed in 2018; both belong to the Mexican Mafia–affiliated Westside Wilmas gang and expected $50,000 each.
- Early the next morning, they returned to the victim's home and opened fire, wounding a friend, and Ricardo Sanchez, 2, was killed during self-defense, prosecutors said.
- They are scheduled for sentencing on March 20 before U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson, facing attempted murder in aid of racketeering and murder in aid of racketeering charges that can carry life or the death penalty.
- Officials say the case illustrates federal enforcement against organized-crime recruitment of youths; Mark Dargis warned cartels, the Mexican Mafia and gangs using minors will not be tolerated, while prosecutors noted the Wilmas gang's organized-crime activities include drug trafficking and weapons distribution.
13 Articles
13 Articles
Mexican Cartel Used 15-year-olds for Contract Murders in California, Say Feds
Federal prosecutors say the Sinaloa Cartel hired two 15‑year‑old members of a Mexican Mafia‑affiliated gang to carry out a pair of assassination attempts in Chula Vista, California, attacks that left one man dead and several wounded before the teens fled back to Los Angeles. | Border / Cartel Chronicles
Associated Press News
Teen gang members plead guilty to acting as hired hitmen for Sinaloa cartel
Two Los Angeles-area 15-year-old gang members have pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder charges, admitting they were acting as hired hitmen for Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel.
Teens from LA gang plead guilty to shootings linked to cartel, Mexican Mafia
Federal courthouse in downtown San Diego. (File photo by Chris Stone/Times of San Diego) Two teens, engaged as hitmen for the Sinaloa Cartel during a pair of shootings in Chula Vista last year, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges. Andrew Nunez, 16, and Johncarlo Quintero, 17, admitted to the March 27, 2024 attack at a residence. The boys, both 15 years old at the time, pleaded guilty to the attempted murders of two men on behalf of a Mexi…
2 teen gang members plead guilty in cartel-linked Chula Vista shootings
The Sinaloa cartel hired two 15-year-old boys from a Los Angeles street gang to carry out a hit on a rival early last year in Chula Vista, setting off a chaotic assassination attempt outside a restaurant and a shootout at an upscale apartment that left one person dead and two others wounded by gunfire, according to guilty pleas the two boys entered Thursday in San Diego federal court. The pleas helped shed light on an episode of cartel-linked vi…
On December 18, 2025, two young members of the Westside Wilmas gang, Andrew Núñez and Johncarlo Quintero, pleaded guilty in a federal court in San Diego, California, to charges of murder and attempted murder committed under the orders of the Sinaloa Cartel. The defendants, who were 15 years old at the time of the events, admitted to participating in… Source
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