Alberto Larez, Nuestra Familia Racketeering, California 2023

Four Nuestra Familia Gang Members Sentenced in California for Racketeering, Murder, and Related Offenses

Four members of the notorious Nuestra Familia gang were sentenced to prison in California, including a life sentence for one senior gang member, for participating in a variety of violent criminal acts, including racketeering conspiracy, murder, robbery, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and other related offenses.

The defendants, Alberto Larez, Henry Cervantes, Jaime Cervantes, and Andrew Cervantes, were members or associates of the federal branch of the Nuestra Familia, which was controlled by two principal overseers incarcerated in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP). Larez and Henry Cervantes were senior gang members who reported to Andrew Cervantes.

Larez, 48, aka Bird, of Salinas, California, was sentenced to life in prison plus 120 months in prison on February 23, 2023. Henry Cervantes, 52, aka Happy, of Lodi, California, was sentenced to 900 months in prison. Jaime Cervantes, 33, aka Hennessy, of San Mateo, California, was sentenced to 384 months in prison. Andrew Cervantes, 60, aka Mad Dog, of Stockton, California, was sentenced to 432 months in prison.

The four defendants were previously convicted of racketeering conspiracy and other offenses following trial before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the Northern District of California in Oakland, California. The evidence presented at trial established that from approximately fall 2010 through March 2013, under the supervision of Henry Cervantes and Larez, members and associates of Nuestra Familia engaged in the trafficking of methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin and committed robberies to raise money for themselves and the gang.

The investigation, which was a six-year effort, was led by the FBI's San Francisco Division, the Bureau of Prisons, and local law enforcement officials. The sentences reflect the egregious conduct of the defendants, who lured and intimidated younger members of the community into being the next generation of gang members ready to accept a life of crime, drugs, and violence.

The Nuestra Familia gang originally formed in the California state prison system in the 1960s. Nuestra Familia leaders control and direct the gang's criminal activities both inside and outside of the prison system.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/four-nuestra-familia-gang-members-sentenced-california-their-roles-racketeering-conspiracy