Teenage Hitmen From the Sinaloa Cartel are Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison in California

On March 13, 2026, a federal court in San Diego, California, sentenced Andrew Nunez—alias “Shooter” or “Felon”—and Johncarlo Quintero—alias “Dumper”—to 25 years in prison. The two youths, aged 16 and 17 respectively and originally from Wilmington, California, were sentenced for acting as hired hitmen for the Sinaloa Cartel when they were both just 15 years old, and for the collateral death of an adult accomplice during one of their failed assassination attempts.

The events took place on March 26 and 27, 2024, when Nunez and Quintero traveled from Wilmington to the city of Chula Vista, California, with the objective of killing a target designated by the Sinaloa Cartel. The first attack occurred in the parking lot of a Chili’s restaurant, where the victim was dining with his family. Quintero fired a single bullet that struck the target in the legs; however, his weapon jammed, preventing him from firing further shots. Consequently, Nunez attempted to run the target over with their vehicle before both fled the scene.

Hours later, in the early morning of March 27, 2024, the two teenagers returned to the victim’s residence, accompanied by 28-year-old Ricardo Sanchez. Each of the three expected to receive approximately $50,000 upon completing the contract killing. Upon their arrival, Sanchez knocked on the front door; when a family friend opened it, Quintero and Nunez opened fire indiscriminately at him and at the residence, intending to kill anyone located within the designated “impact zone.” The friend sustained injuries to his hand, arm, and face, but he survived. In response, he fired back in self-defense and killed Sanchez. Nunez and Quintero also pleaded guilty to that death under the legal doctrine of “provocative act murder.” According to admissions included in their plea agreements, signed in December 2025, the defendants were recruited specifically because they were minors—and, more precisely, because they were under the age of 16 at the time of the offenses—which rendered them ineligible for prosecution as adults under California state law. The defendants themselves admitted to having remarked to one another, following their arrest, that they could not be subject to transfer to adult jurisdiction as established under Section 707 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code. U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon, head of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California, noted that California Senate Bill 1391 rendered the state prosecution of 14- and 15-year-olds a practical impossibility—regardless of the severity of the crime—a situation that the Sinaloa Cartel and the Westside Wilmas gang, an affiliate of the Mexican Mafia, exploited to recruit the teenagers.

Federal Judge Todd W. Robinson of the U.S. District Court warned during the sentencing hearing that the Sinaloa Cartel, the Mexican Mafia, the Westside Wilmas, and similar organizations “need to be put on notice that they do not obtain impunity when they cause a minor to commit a crime of this nature.” For his part, Acting Special Agent in Charge TJ Holland of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) office in San Diego, California, stated that the sentence sends an unequivocal message that those who commit acts of violence—regardless of their age—will be held fully accountable under the law.

In February 2026, a federal grand jury formally indicted three alleged associates of the Sinaloa Cartel—identified as Poly Antunez, Antonio Quinones, and Jovanny Enriquez—accused of conspiring with the teenagers to execute the cartel’s target. That case, docketed under case number 26cr402-TWR, remains pending resolution. The investigations were conducted by the FBI, the Chula Vista Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the U.S. Marshals Service, and the California Highway Patrol.

The case is part of the initiative of the Homeland Security Task Force, established pursuant to Executive Order 14159, which focuses on dismantling cartels, transnational gangs, and human trafficking networks operating within U.S. territory.

Source: Zeta Tijuana