FRESNO - A federal grand jury returned a nine-count superseding indictment today against Erik Razo-Quiroz, 29, of Merced; Adrian Virgen-Mendoza, 25, of Fairfield; Conrado Virgen Mendoza, 34, of Chowchilla; Erasmo Villegas-Suarez, 36, of Buttonwillow; Ana Leydi Cervantes-Sanchez, 31, of Newman; Bernabe Madrigal-Castaneda, 59, of Lamont; and Maria Luisa Moreno, 57, of Lamont, adding six new charges relating to fraudulent identification documents to the previous charges of conspiring to harbor an alien and, as to Razo, being a felon and an alien in possession of a firearm.
According to court documents, between December 26, 2018, and December 28, 2018, the defendants conspired to harbor and conceal Paulo Virgen Mendoza as he attempted to flee from California to Mexico to avoid prosecution for the murder of Newman Police Corporal Ronil Singh. It is alleged that in the early hours of December 26, 2018, Mendoza, an alien not lawfully present in the United States, shot and killed Corporal Singh.
Thereafter, the seven defendants helped Mendoza hide from law enforcement, despite knowing that he had killed a police officer. The defendants transported, hosted, and provisioned Mendoza with clothes, money, and a new cellphone; concealed the truck that Mendoza was driving when he allegedly killed Corporal Singh; and made plans and wired money to smuggle Mendoza out of California and back to Mexico. Additionally, Razo, a convicted felon, disposed of the gun that Mendoza allegedly used. All of the defendants are aliens not lawfully present in the United States.
In the superseding indictment, Mendoza’s brothers, Conrado Virgen Mendoza and Adrian Virgen Mendoza, are also charged with using a false Social Security Number and possessing a false lawful permanent resident card in connection with securing employment. Another relative, Erasmo Villegas-Suarez, is also charged with using a false Social Security Number in connection with securing employment.
This case is the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, the Office of the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration, the Central Valley High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task force, the Southern Tri-County HIDTA, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the California Highway Patrol, the Kern, Merced, and Santa Cruz Counties Sheriff’s Offices, and the Police Departments of the cities of Merced, Turlock, Modesto, and Santa Cruz. Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen A. Escobar and Laura D. Withers are prosecuting the case.
The defendants are next scheduled to appear in federal court for a status conference on February 25. If convicted of the firearms offenses, Razo faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charges of harboring conspiracy and misuse of a social security number carry a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Possession of false immigration documents carries a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
