Federal grand jury indicts nine alleged Salinas gang members.

A federal court document unsealed on Tuesday Jan. 6, shows that a grand jury indicted nine defendants for participating in a racketeering conspiracy by engaging in multiple crimes for the Salinas Acosta Plaza Norteños.

 The prosecution is the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Salinas Police Department, with assistance from the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office.

 “For more than a decade, this gang has terrorized the residents of the Acosta Plaza townhomes and East Salinas more broadly,” said United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian in the statement.   “The violent criminal activity that defendants have been charged with is appalling and unacceptable. We will not stop until the residents of this community feel safe and secure in their homes.

 The more than 50 crimes allegedly committed by the nine defendants, all charged with one count of racketeering conspiracy, include 11 murders, 14 attempted murders, drug and gun distribution, the firebombing of a Salinas apartment with Molotov cocktails among others. 

 Three of the defendants were named in a similar May 2024 indictment, which tied together a series of crimes spanning more than a decade.

 If the defendants are convicted of racketeering conspiracy,they could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and $250,000 fine for racketeering conspiracy.

 In addition, the indictment alleges that special sentencing factors apply to one defendant for their role in the July 19, 2014, murder of a person identified in the indictment, and another defendant for his role in the Jan. 23, 2023, attempted murder of two people. If convicted, the two defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison.