Members and associates of a gang tied to the fatal shooting of two El Monte police officers face federal charges alleging murder, witness intimidation and drug trafficking, among other counts, authorities announced Wednesday.
Authorities served 10 search warrants Wednesday leading to the arrest of seven people associated with the “Quiet Village” street gang. Three people remain outstanding, officials said.
A federal investigation into the gang began after the June 14, 2022 deaths of Sgt. Michael Paredes and Officer Joseph Santana. The men were gunned down while responding to a domestic violence call at a motel in El Monte.
The suspect, Justin William Flores, a Quiet Village member, also died in the gun battle.
Officials said the gang has been terrorizing the community for years and have ties to the Mexican Mafia.
“A highly violent gang responsible for the murders of two brave police officers and others has now felt the weight of a collective law enforcement response. The gang’s days of terrorizing the community stop with today’s federal arrests,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said while announcing the charges Wednesday.
During a news conference, authorities displayed evidence against the defendants that included guns and drugs.
The charges stem from four grand jury indictments and a criminal complaint; the main indictment includes a conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and violent crimes in aid of racketeering, along with firearms and narcotics arrest. The last three indictments allege narcotics trafficking and firearms charges.
Three defendants face the RICO count, which outlines the history of QV, its close alliance with another gang, the Whittier Varrio Locos, and its association with the Mexican Mafia prison gang.
It details the attempted murder of a rival gang member, the targeting of an informant that resulted in the killing of a bystander and the operation of an illegal gambling house where narcotics were sold.
According to the indictment, shot caller Chase Carrillo, aka “Sicko,” 34, got into an argument with a rival gang member in El Monte in January 2022. The altercation ended with Carrillo and WVL shot caller Ronny Rojas shooting a rival gang member 8 to 10 times, leaving him severely wounded. A man identified as J.P. drove the getaway vehicle.
Carrillo and Rojas eventually faced charges in connection with the shooting.
Months after the crime, Rojas received a police report that named J.P. as the person who provided authorities with the information about the shooting. He then allegedly asked a WVL members to distribute the report, which officials allege was a message to fellow gang members that J.P. should be killed for cooperating with police.
Two days after the police report began circulating, Carrillo and Garcia encountered J.P. in Commerce and allegedly shot at the vehicle he was riding in. J.P. was not struck, but the driver, a woman identified as M.F., was shot and killed.
Garcia then allegedly tried to sell the 9mm ghost gun Carrillo used in the killing.
Authorities allege that QV operated a casita, an illegal gambling business, behind a smoke shop in Whittier.
After the killing of the officers, QV members allegedly “placed posters, stickers, and graffiti at QV’s illegal gambling business and elsewhere to celebrate the actions of [the murderer] and in order to advance their gang’s reputation for violence and intimidate others,” according to the indictment.
The indictment also alleges that QV member Richard Guzman, 40, was involved in the sale of meth five times in July and August of 2022.
Additionally, Rojas allegedly conspired with a relative to distribute suboxone while incarcerated in Los Angeles County Jail for the attempted murder charge.
The defendants are expected to be arraigned in federal court on Wednesday.
The FBI’s San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Task Force, which includes the DEA, conducted the investigation with the help of the Whittier, Bell Gardens, Arcadia and West Covina Police Departments, along with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
“This behavior seems incomprehensible to most of us, but to some of these defendants and their associates, this callous disregard for the life and safety of law enforcement is business as usual, but we’re closing the doors on this businesses,” said Donald Alway, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office.