SAN JOSE — Greater than seven years after dozens of alleged Sureño members and associates had been charged as a part of a large racketeering prosecution aimed toward a San Jose subset of the gang, one of many males who evaded seize on a homicide warrant has been arrested.
Juan “Droopy” Sandoval, 30, was arrested late final yr and is again within the Bay Space, dealing with fees of homicide, conspiracy, and assault in furtherance of a racketeering enterprise. He's charged with the Oct. 23, 2011 stabbing loss of life of a 22-year-old man in San Jose, in addition to a common conspiracy to assault rival Norteño members and different Sureños thought to have violated gang guidelines.
At Sandoval’s preliminary court docket look final yr, prosecutors defined that Sandoval was arrested in Mexico in 2021, however the Mexican authorities solely agreed to extradite him when the U.S. Division of Justice promised to not search the loss of life penalty. Capital punishment has been abolished in Mexico for greater than 15 years and as a coverage the nation doesn’t extradite individuals who could also be executed.
Sandoval is the newest defendant in a case that has charged 33 folks with a vary of federal offenses, from homicide to drug trafficking. Crimes listed within the indictment return to 2009, and embody killings focusing on rival gang members in addition to the killing of a suspected fellow Sureño on the Elmwood Correctional Facility.
The Oct. 23, 2011 homicide cost alleges that Sandoval and 39-year-old Roberto Jaime Martinez, aka “Espantos” stabbed a San Jose resident to loss of life. Martinez’s case has been in limbo for years, whereas his psychological competency is evaluated, court docket data present.
Sandoval is subsequent due in court docket Feb. 7, for a standing convention, court docket data present. Final month, prosecutors dropped a gun possession cost towards him, with out stating a purpose.