Sixth Member Of Salinas-Based “Murder Squad” Pleads Guilty To Role In 2017 Killing Spree

SAN JOSE – Andrew Alvarado, a member of a Salinas-based Norteño criminal street gang, pleaded guilty today in federal court to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering.

Alvarado, 34, of Salinas, was indicted along with multiple co-defendants by a federal grand jury on Oct. 15, 2020.  According to court documents, Alvarado was a member of the self-proclaimed “Murder Squad,” a crew of Salinas-based Norteño criminal street gang members falling under the Monterey County Regiment Enterprise affiliated with the Nuestra Familia prison gang.  The squad would go on “hunts,” shooting and killing rival gang members or those perceived to be rivals.  The squad would often use military-style tactics, traveling in a convoy of vehicles with a designated shooter vehicle and a designated security/spotter vehicle, all of which were in constant communication via conference call.  The security/spotter vehicles would patrol the streets, find a target, and transmit their location to the shooter vehicle.  The shooters in the shooter vehicle would drive up, exit, fire at the victims until their magazines were empty, and speed away.  The security/spotter vehicles would follow behind, ready to distract or intercept law enforcement and allow the shooter vehicle to escape.

In pleading guilty, Alvarado admitted that he personally participated in six of these hunts between January 2017 and May 2017.  He was the shooter in three of those hunts, resulting in the deaths of three victims and the wounding of a fourth.  In one instance, the hunt began at a gathering to remember a co-conspirator’s family members who had been killed in a car accident, during which the gang members agreed to go hunting for rival gang members to kill.  Alvarado also admitted that he was in the security/spotter vehicle in three other hunts, resulting in the deaths of three victims, the wounding of four victims, and the near-miss of one victim.  Each additional “body” increased Alvarado’s status and prestige within the gang.

Acting United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Tatum King made the announcement.

Five of Alvarado’s co-defendants pleaded guilty in May 2024 to racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering.  The five co-defendants were sentenced in September 2024 to between 25 and 41 years in prison.

Alvarado, who remains in custody pending sentencing, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 15, 2025.  He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000 fine for racketeering conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d), and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1959(a)(5).  Any sentence will be imposed by the Court only after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

This prosecution was brought by the Violent Crime Strike Force and is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys George Hageman and Mari Overbeck are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Nina Burney and Lakisha Holliman.  The prosecution is the result of a yearslong investigation by HSI and the Salinas Police Department.