Mexican Mafia associate gets 17 years for ordering attacks behind bars
A Mexican Mafia associate was sentenced Monday to more than 17 years in federal prison for ordering attacks behind bars on behalf of the powerful prison-based gang.
Ramon Alvarez, 45, of Santa Ana previously pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges, admitting to having been given the power to place fellow inmates on so-called “hard candy” or “green light” lists that marked them for murder or assault while they were in the Orange County jail system.
Federal prosecutors allege that Alvarez helped authorize or assist with at least two attacks.
In December 2011, Alvarez “authorized a co-conspirator” to stab and kill a fellow jail inmate, prosecutors said, though the other inmate did not die.
In October 2012, prosecutors allege Alvarez identified an inmate who was cooperating with law enforcement in a murder trial, setting that inmate up for a later attack by other Mexican Mafia associates at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange.
Alvarez was one of 25 people named in a racketeering indictment as part of a multi-agency operation involving federal and local law enforcement that ultimately led to the conviction of longtime Mexican Mafia chieftain Peter Ojeda.
Ojeda, known by his street name Sana, spent 30 years amassing unmatched power among local street gangs, eventually becoming Orange County’s highest-ranking Mexican Mafia leader. Even a 2006 racketeering conviction that left him in federal prison in Pennsylvania couldn’t force him to cede control of Orange County streets and jails.
Prior to his most recent indictment, Ojeda was warring with a former ally-turned-rival, Armando Moreno, over control of local gang activity, leading to a wave of violence in Orange County jails.
Prosecutors say Alvarez was tied to Ojeda’s faction, which ultimately won the battle over Moreno by securing the backing of several other Mexican Mafia leaders from Los Angeles.
In 2016, Ojeda was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He died behind bars in 2018, at the age of 76.
The law enforcement operation and subsequent court trial offered a rare view into the upper echelon of the Mexican Mafia, which exerts widespread control over gang activity across Southern California by taxing drug dealers and issuing edicts to local street crews. The organization’s power lies in its control over criminal activity in prisons or jails, where those who fall out of favor with the Mexican Mafia can be beaten or killed.