2 from `La Eme' convicted in conspiracy to kill witness

2 from `La Eme' convicted in conspiracy to kill witness
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 08/29/2008 08:42:26 PM PDT

The reputed leader of the Inland Empire section of the Mexican Mafia and his brother were sentenced Friday in San Bernardino Superior Court for their roles in a murder conspiracy involving two San Manuel tribal members.

Salvador Orozco Hernandez, 43, of Bloomington was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and his brother Alfred Hernandez, 39, was sentenced to nine years in prison.

Under a plea agreement reached in April with county prosecutors, the siblings each pleaded guilty to one count of attempted murder with a gang enhancement.

The two were arrested in December 2006 with dozens of others during a joint investigation between the Drug Enforcement Administration and the San Bernardino Police Department into the Mexican Mafia's methamphetamine racket in San Bernardino.

The investigation uncovered evidence that the Hernandez brothers were working with siblings Stacy Barajas-Nunez and Erik Barajas, both San Manuel tribal members, to kill a witness to the May 2004 shooting of San Bernardino resident James Seay outside the Brass Key bar in Highland.

A suspect in that shooting, Robert Martinez III, is a San Manuel tribal member. He was never charged in the case because of a lack of witness cooperation, county prosecutors said.

Seay, who survived the 2004 shooting and sued Martinez, was chased into his mother's backyard in May 2006 and shot to death by two unidentified assailants. It occurred about two weeks after he received a
Advertisement
Click Here!
settlement check of about $250,000 from Martinez.

Barajas-Nunez, 25, pleaded guilty in April to attempted murder with a gang enhancement, transportation of a controlled substance for sale and possession of drugs in jail. She faces one year of jail time, which will likely be served as house arrest.

Erik Barajas, 35, pleaded guilty in April to assault with a deadly weapon with a gang enhancement and faces 180 days of jail time, also likely to be served at home.

The two tribal members will be sentenced Nov. 6.

The Hernandezes will receive credit for the time they have already served at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga since their arrest. Salvador Hernandez will serve about seven years in prison. His brother Alfred will serve about 6<MD+,%30,%55,%70>1/<MD-,%0,%55,%70>2 years.

Attorneys for the brothers said the sentences were fair. The siblings could have each faced 25 years to life in prison if they had gone to trial and were convicted.

"We went from life to six and seven years. That's one heck of a trade-off," said James Taylor, Alfred Hernandez's attorney.

Salvador Hernandez's attorney, Catherine Fox, added, "It's always a risk putting a defendant before a jury, so I think it's a favorable turnout."

Prosecutor Douglas Poston said he is satisfied with the terms of the plea agreement, which lines Salvador Hernandez up as a third striker.

"It essentially puts him on notice that if he commits one more felony in the state of California, he's looking at 25 years to life," Poston said.

The target of the murder conspiracy, a reported gang member with a history of criminal offenses, set the murder conspiracy in motion in spring 2006 when he and fellow gang members confronted Erik Barajas at the Brass Key and accosted him, accusing Barajas' brother of being an informant, according to a probation report released Friday.

As a peace offering, Barajas gave each man $2,500. That angered Stacy Barajas-Nunez, who confronted the victim the following day and demanded he return the money. She threatened to have him killed by "La Eme" if he didn't, the report said.

La Eme, Spanish for the letter "m," is a common reference for the Mexican Mafia.

According to the probation report, Stacy Barajas-Nunez initiated the murder plot. Her brother provided a yearbook photo of the victim to Salvador Hernandez and provided Hernandez with financial perks, including concert tickets for San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino.

Because Salvador Hernandez refused to be interviewed, Probation Officer Jeremy Smith couldn't make a definitive conclusion as to why the feared gang member, who has a criminal record dating back 20 years, did what he did.

But he noted it was "doubtless that the gang members see the Barajases as a source of funding for them, in that Stacy and Erik Barajas receive the monthly casino generated payment to tribe members, which has been reported to be in excess of $100,000."

Hey wasn't somebody talkin about a clicc called Barajas from WSV? And there's a lil store names Barajas over on Mt Vernon around 7th st hood

That store is on 10th & Mt vernon across from Projects outskirts and going into Little Counts.

Yeah I was speaking on them a minute ago...

Arrest at San Manuel casino endangers woman's sentencing deal




10:00 PM PST on Saturday, November 22, 2008
By RICHARD K. DE ATLEY
The Press-Enterprise
Stacy Cheyenne Nunez-Barajas, a wealthy San Manuel tribal member sentenced earlier this month to electronic monitoring and five years probation for her role in a 2006 murder-for-hire plot, has been arrested for a violation of her sentencing agreement that could bring her 27 years in prison.

Nunez-Barajas, 26, was arrested just after 9 p.m. Friday at the San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino in Highland, said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers.

Beavers said a deputy was called to the casino "in reference to trespassing."

Story continues below

It was not clear Saturday what the violation was. Available online court records for Nunez-Barajas' probation terms do not mention the casino as a prohibited place.

She was being held Saturday at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga. Information from the jail's Web site showed she was in custody without bail.

On Nov. 6, Nunez-Barajas was sentenced to one year of electronic monitoring and her brother, Erik Barajas, 36, received six months for their roles in a highly publicized case linking them to the Mexican Mafia and the methamphetamine trade in the Inland Empire.

Nunez-Barajas faced 27 years in prison if she violated the terms of her sentencing agreement and Barajas faced eight years, according to court records.

The Barajas siblings, both convicted gang members, accepted plea agreements in the case that alleged they conspired to kill bar manager Leonard Epps on Sept. 30, 2006.

Epps, 37, was manager of the Brass Key bar in Highland and had a confrontation with Nunez-Barajas in March or April 2006, records say.

San Bernardino police, then investigating the drug activity in the area, learned of a plot against Epps and quietly spirited him into hiding several days before he was to be shot with a .40-caliber Glock handgun, court records say.

He has been hiding ever since.

On the day of their sentencing, Epps' attorney, Frank Peterson, served the Barajas siblings with a $50 million lawsuit.

Peterson read a victim-impact statement that complained that Epps had to live a life on the run while his would-be killers were sentenced to home monitoring.

"I think it's sad. . . . She is throwing away her entire life just because she wants power -- people to look at her and be afraid," Peterson said Saturday.

Nunez-Barajas' attorney, Albert Perez Jr., did not respond to an e-mail or a call to his answering service on Saturday seeking comment.

Jacob Coin, a spokesman for the San Manuel tribe, also declined comment.

Staff writers John Berry and Michelle DeArmond contributed to this report.