Two teen hitmen get 25 years in prison for cartel-linked shooting in Chula Vista

(SAN DIEGO)  — A federal judge sentenced two teenage hitmen to 25 years in prison each on Friday for their role in an attempted cartel-related murder in 2024.

U.S. District Judge Todd Robinson had stern words for Johncarlo Quintero, 16, and Andrew Nunez, 17, who were charged with driving to the San Diego suburb of Chula Vista from their home in Wilmington, California, on March 26, 2024, to kill a target of the Sinaloa Cartel.

“The conduct at issue here is of the most serious nature,” Robinson said to each defendant, whose sentences he read separately. “The broad daylight attempt to murder Victim One, and after it was unsuccessful you went back to the Airbnb and then to the victim’s house to finish what you failed to do. It’s difficult to imagine offensive conduct of a more aggravated nature than what brings me to your sentencing.”

Quintero and Nunez both waited at a Chili’s restaurant where a man, identified as Victim One, was eating with his family, the Department of Justice said. The defendants, who were 15 at the time, pulled up behind the victim in a vehicle as the family was leaving the restaurant and Quintero fired a single round into the victim’s legs before his gun jammed. They then attempted, unsuccessfully, to run the man over before fleeing the scene.

Later that night, the two enlisted the help of another gang member, Ricardo Sanchez, 28, and went to the victim’s home to finish the job. Another person who was a friend of their intended target answered the door to a hail of gunfire the trio unleashed indiscriminately into the home.

The friend killed Sanchez with defensive fire, but was shot in the hand, arm and face by Quintero and Nunez. Two family members of the intended target, including a minor, were also present at the home.

“Here, the consequences were of the most severe nature,” Robinson said. “Someone died. Someone was disfigured and other people have suffered by the trauma you and your codependents brought upon them.”

Each of the hitmen was expected to be paid $50,000, prosecutors said.

Nunez and Quintero said that they were enlisted by the Sinaloa Cartel to carry out the attack because their status as minors would prevent them from serving lengthy prison sentences in California.

Robinson, a Donald Trump appointee, told the courtroom that the 25-year sentences imposed on Friday would be an example to other gang members or cartel members.

“They need to be put on notice,” he said. “You do not get a pass when you get a juvenile to commit a crime like this.”

Quintero and Nunez were both offered the chance to address the court. Nunez wrote a statement, but chose not to read it.

“He is exceptionally remorseful for what he did,” his attorney Antonio Yoon told the court. “He just hopes the victim will forgive him.”

Quintero, whose sentencing followed Nunez’s, thanked the judge for allowing him to speak and expressed his apologies to the first victim.

“I am sorry for what I put you through,” he said. “I especially feel bad for the little kid that was present … I want to also apologize to my family, my mom and my sister. I never lacked any love from them. I am so grateful I still have a supportive family even after I let them down … I realized I hurt a lot of people. I want to change. All I ask is for another chance.”

Despite their apologies and their acceptance of a guilty plea in December, Robinson said that neither of them appeared to have cut their ties with the gangs they are affiliated with, the Westside Wilmas, an affiliate of the Mexican Mafia.

Up until their sentencing, Robinson told Quintero his conduct was inconsistent with someone who regretted his actions. That conduct will result in them back here again, he said.

“California Senate Bill 1391 made state prosecutions of 14- and 15-year-olds a practical impossibility regardless of the seriousness of the crime,” Adam Gordon, U.S. attorney for the southern district of California said in a press release. “Then, the Sinaloa Cartel and the Mexican Mafia-affiliated Westside Wilmas recruited accordingly. No. No to the Sinaloa Cartel recruiting juveniles. No to the Mexican Mafia directing gangland hits in San Diego. No to a lack of consequences for juveniles who would do their bidding.”