Nuestra Familia Gang Members Convicted in Federal Court Receive Long Sentences

SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Larry Amaro, 44, of Hanford; Ernest Paul Killinger, 33, of Orangevale; Gerardo Mora, 34, of Salinas; and Jason Stewart-Hanson, 37, of Los Banos, were sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge William B. Shubb.

Judge Shubb imposed the following sentences:

Amaro—40 years in prison;

Killinger—36 years and eight months in prison;

Mora—33 years and four months in prison;

Stewart-Hanson—25 years in prison.

Each defendant was convicted on multiple counts of drug trafficking on December 10, 2010, after a lengthy jury trial.

According to the trial evidence, between April 2004 and June 27, 2007, Amaro, Killinger, Mora, and Stewart-Hanson engaged in a long-term drug trafficking conspiracy that was responsible for the transportation and distribution of more than 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 100 kilograms of cocaine, and 200 pounds of marijuana. They operated under the authority of the Nuestra Familia (NF), a violent Hispanic prison gang based within the California prison system whose members exert control over street-level Norteño gang members engaged in drug trafficking and violent crime.

This case was the product of an extensive investigation by the FBI's Stockton Violent Crime Task Force, the San Joaquin County Metropolitan Narcotics Task Force (METRO), the Stockton Police Department, the Salinas Police Department, the Watsonville Police Department, the Monterey County Sheriff's Department, and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Hitt and William S. Wong prosecuted the case.

This extensive joint effort was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). OCDETF was established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. Its principal mission is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation's drug supply.