7 Cold Cases Solved after Gang Members Pleaded Guilty, Sentenced in San Francisco for Crimes Committed over a Decade
San Francisco, CA: For a series of seven homicides and associated offenses that occurred over a decade ago, federal prosecutors have announced the sentencing of six men from San Francisco.
The sentenced individuals are:
- Eddy Urbina (35)
- Weston Venegas (34)
- Orlando Hernandez (41)
- Juan Carlos Gallardo (35)
They all pleaded guilty. Also, 2 more gang members were sentenced. Jonathan Aguilar, 37, and Mario Reyes, 44, were sentenced on April 2 and March 5 respectively.
These men from San Francisco’s Mission District were allegedly involved in a criminal racketeering enterprise called the “19th Street/16th Street Surenos” gang.
Their upbeat nicknames, such as Rhino, Cartoon, Christo, Huero, Trompo, and Shy Boy, may give the impression that they are harmless. The gang was involved in drug sales, weapons violations, assaults, robberies, and the pursuit, shooting, and killing of rival gang members.
Judge Richard Seeborg of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California handed down the punishments, which ranged from eleven to thirty-two years.
The cases were referred to by prosecutors as “cold cases.”
In most circumstances, fresh evidence leads to a reopening of previously unsolved cold cases. Murders occurred in these cases between the years of 2006 and 2013. On March 20, 2018, the indictment was finally filed as per SF Standard.
An affiliate of the Mexican Mafia prison group, the Sureno gang is believed by prosecutors to have origins in Central America, Mexico, and Southern California.
Jonathan Escobar, an alleged gang member, was indicted in 2021 by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The indictment states that the 19th Street/16th Street Surenos gang was comprised of two street gangs, the 16th Street Surenos and the 19th Street Surenos, which shared territories in the Mission District and “essentially functioned as a single, unified association-in-fact… enterprise.”
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From Folsom Street to Dolores Street, the merged enterprise’s area extended east to west along 16th and 19th streets.
