Antonio Cruz Gets 36.5 Years for Norteño Murders, Robberies

Salinas enforcer Antonio Cruz, 32, is locked up for 36½ years after pleading guilty to a string of Norteño gang-fueled murders and armed robberies that terrorized communities from Gilroy to Watsonville. The sentence, handed down May 1, 2019, by U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh, marks the federal government’s latest strike against the violent Salinas Norteños Enterprise, a sprawling criminal network built on blood, bullets, and fear.

Cruz admitted to operating as a core member of the Santa Rita clique, a ruthless arm of the Norteño gang, from 2009 to 2011. During that time, he helped orchestrate a campaign of violence targeting rival Sureño gang members and others deemed threats. Among the atrocities: the cold-blooded execution of a man warming his car on Lohman Street in Salinas on December 2, 2009. Cruz stalked the victim before approaching and unloading multiple rounds from a .380 caliber handgun. The man died at the scene.

That was just the beginning. On July 12, 2010, Cruz armed a fellow gang member and drove to the Northgate apartment complex, where they opened fire on two men working on a car. One was struck in the lower back with a .45 caliber pistol later found in Cruz’s backpack. Then on August 17, 2010, Cruz prowled Salinas streets with a shooter in his passenger seat, hunting for rivals. When they spotted a man they believed was a Sureño, Cruz stopped the car and his accomplice gunned the victim down.

The bloodshed escalated on November 19, 2010, when Cruz helped plan a massacre at a house party known to be a Sureño hangout. After reconnaissance confirmed the target location, Cruz drove two shooters to the scene and handed over a .40 caliber Glock with an extended magazine. From the safety of his vehicle, he watched as the gunmen unloaded more than 10 rounds into the crowd—killing one man and wounding another.

But Cruz wasn’t just a killer—he was a getaway driver for a string of high-stakes armed robberies that fed the gang’s war chest. On June 2, 2010, he helped rip off the Zales jewelry store in Gilroy. Then came the November 23, 2010 heist at Bank of the West in San Jose, followed by the December 16, 2010 Wells Fargo robbery in Watsonville, and the January 7, 2011 Rabobank job—also in Watsonville. In total, the Enterprise stole over $800,000 in jewelry and cash, all under the cover of drawn firearms.

Now, Cruz will pay $324,915.59 in restitution and spend the next three and a half decades behind bars. U.S. Attorney David L. Anderson and FBI Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett hailed the sentence as a critical blow to organized street violence. For the people of Salinas and the victims’ families, it’s a grim measure of justice—delivered too late, but not forgotten.