A man from the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles was sentenced on July 28 to 37 months in federal prison for throwing rocks and ignited debris at California Highway Patrol officers during a violent anti-immigration law enforcement protest in downtown Los Angeles, according to the Justice Department.
Ismael Vega, 42, received his sentence from United States District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered him to pay $253,415 in restitution. Vega pleaded guilty on April 29 to one count of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder.
According to his plea agreement, Vega participated in a protest on June 8, 2025, where demonstrators gathered on the Main Street overpass above U.S. Highway 101. Protesters picked up debris such as cardboard and vegetation along with fireworks, set them alight, and dropped them onto a CHP vehicle parked below the overpass where officers were trapped. Vega admitted that he knew officers were under the freeway overpass and that dropping burning debris created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury.
The Justice Department said Vega attempted multiple times to help others light debris on fire and threw several rocks at law enforcement as they tried to clear the area. Prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum, “This civil disorder stood apart in its magnitude… A sergeant in the California Highway Patrol with nearly three decades in law enforcement wrote a statement about how this incident stood apart and the impact it had on him and his son. His experience underscores how violent this incident became and the deep toll it took on all law enforcement present.”
Vega is one of five defendants sentenced so far related to this case. Co-defendant Yachua Mauricio Flores faces sentencing on August 3 with a statutory maximum sentence of five years; lead defendant Adam Charles Palermo has a December 14 hearing scheduled with a statutory maximum sentence of twenty years.
The FBI investigated this matter with assistance from CHP and Los Angeles Police Department. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California serves more than nineteen million residents across seven counties; it focuses on prosecuting federal criminal cases, handling civil matters for the government, supporting community outreach programs including victim assistance and public education efforts while working closely with federal, state, and local partners to ensure public safety, according to its official website.