Mike Escobar, also known as “Risky,” 43, a member of the Little Hood gang in Anaheim, California; James Mendez, also known as “Buck,” 47, a Sureño gang member from Garden Grove, California; and Kevin Trejo, also known as “Minor,” 38, a member of the Jeffrey Street gang in Anaheim, California, were each sentenced yesterday to life in prison for their trial convictions of murder in aid of racketeering relating to their association with the Mexican Mafia.

The Mexican Mafia, also known as “La Eme,” is a U.S.-based prison gang that has immense control over Hispanic street gangs in Southern California, directing illegal activities from prisons and collecting a portion of the proceeds from drug trafficking, illegal gambling, and other crimes committed on the streets.           

According to the evidence presented at the 10-day trial that occurred in October 2023, the defendants, in August 2017, murdered the victim, a member of a Costa Mesa, California, street gang and associate of the Mexican Mafia. At the time of his murder, the victim was involved in trafficking drugs and collecting taxes from other Orange County gangs on behalf of a Mexican Mafia leader in charge of criminal activities, who was in prison. The Mexican Mafia leader who ordered the murder is scheduled for trial in August 2027. 

“Gang members directing murders from behind bars will be charged and prosecuted just like those who pull the triggers,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This case charged both the shooters and the perpetrator who ordered the murder. The Criminal Division will maintain its commitment to eradicate gangs at all levels and make America safe.”

“We will never tolerate violence ordered by imprisoned gangsters operating from behind bars,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli for the Central District of California. “Yesterday’s life sentences demonstrate our commitment to holding these thugs accountable until their dying day.”

“Gang members committing violent acts of murder on the streets of America violates everyone’s sense of safety and security in our neighborhoods,” said Assistant Director Heith Janke of the FBI’s Criminal Division. “Three more members of the Mexican Mafia who steal from society and degrade our communities are off the streets for the rest of their lives thanks to the joint efforts of the Orange County Violent Gang Task Force and the Homeland Security Task Force.”

On the night of the murder, Escobar, Mendez, and Trejo tricked the victim into driving with them to a residential neighborhood in Orange, California. There, they shot him seven times in the back and once in the head.