Jorge Olivares, Possession of a Firearm, Minnesota 2024

A violent member of the Latin Kings street gang has been sentenced to 50 months in prison for possessing a firearm in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jorge Olivares, a/k/a “Stomper,” age 23, was convicted of possessing a firearm as a felon.

The arrest occurred in December 2023, amid high levels of violence in Minneapolis. Minneapolis Police officers responded to a report of a suspicious vehicle and found Olivares asleep in the driver’s seat. A firearm—a Springfield Armory Hellcat 9mm semiautomatic pistol—was on the car’s floorboard, ready to fire with a round loaded in the chamber and twelve rounds in the magazine, and was within easy reach of the defendant.

Olivares was also found to be in possession of more than 6 grams of cocaine in the car. When he was arrested, he was wearing a sweatshirt reflecting his ongoing affiliation with the Latin Kings.

Olivares has a violent criminal history, including a conviction for first-degree aggravated assault and first-degree aggravated robbery in 2018. In that incident, Olivares shot two victims and stole their car. He also carried out a drive-by shooting of a residence while yelling the gang slogan ‘King Love’ and flashing a gang sign.

At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Ann D. Montgomery told Olivares that it was ‘scary to look at the record and see the violence in your past.’ She noted that when she sees ‘a pattern of individuals that keep coming back’ to court and the violence escalates, that ‘it doesn’t usually end well.’

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) with assistance from the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), the United States Marshals Service (USMS), the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), and the Richfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney David B. Green prosecuted the case.

The people of Minnesota deserve safety—not shootouts, said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. ‘Whether it’s the Highs, the Lows, the Bloods, or the Latin Kings, at the federal level we will continue to use every tool we have to put violent gang members behind bars.’

Olivares’s unlawful possession of a firearm posed a considerable risk to the community in light of his extremely serious and violent criminal history, the government argued.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/latin-kings-gang-member-sentenced-50-months-possession-firearm