LOS ANGELES - Two key operatives of the Florencia 13 street gang were sentenced this week to life without parole in federal prison.
Jose Dorado, also known as “Yogi," 35, and Tannous Fazah, aka “Terrorist," 27, both of Huntington Park, were F13 gang “soldiers" who, among other things, participated in the murder of a junior member of the gang.
United States District Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell sentenced the two men this week after presiding over a four-week trial that culminated last July with a jury returning guilty verdicts on multiple charges against the defendants - including conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, conspiracy to commit violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR), drug trafficking conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, and felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.
“The court heard in disturbing detail at trial how these Florenica 13 gang members lured the victim into an alley and beat him unconscious," said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Los Angeles Field Division Special Agent in Charge Eric Harden. “The defendants then committed an execution-style killing. ATF is committed and dedicated to removing violent criminals like these from our society for life. Justice has been served."
In March 2010, Dorado and Fazah received an order from an incarcerated, senior member of the F13 gang instructing them beat and kill the victim. That same night, in an alley in Huntington Park, Dorado, Fazah and other members of the gang circled the victim and proceeded to punch and kick him repeatedly, after which Fazah brandished an illegal handgun and fatally shot the victim in the face.
The jury that convicted Dorado and Fazah also returned guilty verdicts against two other F13 members who were charged in 2013 in a federal racketeering indictment. The indictment named 30 members and associates of the F13 gang. With the four convictions last summer, a total of 25 defendants have been convicted in the case (one charged defendant died, and the other four remain fugitives).
The investigation into Florencia 13 was led by ATF and included the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Huntington Park Police Department and the Los Angeles Police Department.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Terrence P. Mann of the Santa Ana Branch Office, Sheila Nagaraj of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and Victoria A. Degtyareva of the General Crimes Section.
