4 Pomona gang members with ties to Mexican Mafia found guilty of murder, feds say
Four men federal authorities describe as gang members from Pomona with ties to the Mexican Mafia were found guilty of murder Friday.
A jury found Michael Lerma, 68, a.k.a. "Pomona Mike" and "Big Mike," Carlos Gonzalez, 41, a.k.a. "Popeye," Juan Sanchez, 33, a.k.a. "Squeaks" and Jose Valencia Gonzalez, 44, a.k.a. "Swifty" guilty of first-degree murder for the June 2020 killing of an inmate at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in downtown Los Angeles. They were also convicted of one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and one count of violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR) murder.
It was at Lerma's direction that the other four defendants murdered a victim who authorities have only identified as "S.B." in retaliation for the victim not paying off drug debts owed to Lerma's cell of the Mexican Mafia prison gang, prosecutors said.
He has been described by federal officials as a full member of the Mexican Mafia prison gang who controlled and extorted drug money from street gangs in and around the Pomona area as well as from inmates at the Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County.
Prosecutors said those crimes occurred between February 2012 and June 2020, and others within Lerma's criminal enterprise committed identity theft and fraud, drug trafficking, robberies and other violent crimes.
The convictions are part of a larger RICO case in which federal prosecutors have secured 16 other convictions.
Among the other defendants are Cheryl Perez-Castaneda, 62, of Pomona and Kelly Deshannon, 43, of La Verne.
According to federal prosecutors, Perez-Castaneda was a high-level associate of Lerma's and acted as a so-called "señora" within the gang who held power on the street in carrying out criminal activity. She is serving a 12-year prison sentence for soliciting a murder and taking part in a carjacking attempt that resulted in a shooting in July 2013.
Prosecutors said Deshannon served as a so-called "secretary" to Lerma and she is serving more than seven years in prison for facilitating the July 2013 armed robbery of the same person targeted in the carjacking and shooting involving Perez-Castaneda. She was also convicted of extortion and distributing narcotics.
The case has been investigated by the FBI, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Pomona Police Department, El Monte Police Department and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
