Local Gang Leaders Convicted For Facilitating Nationwide Prison Gang La Nuestra Familia (DOJ)

Spokane, Washington - Chief United States District Judge Stanley A. Bastian has handed down sentences to three local gang leaders for their roles in facilitating the criminal activities of a national prison gang called "La Nuestra Familia" (NF). Chief Judge Bastian sentenced Jacenir DaSilva of Moses Lake, Washington, to 120 months in federal prison on gun charges, Jesus Mirelez of Yakima, Washington, to 83 months in federal prison on gun charges, and Thomas Lee Weatherwax of Spokane, Washington, to 75 months in federal prison on money laundering and drug conspiracy charges, to be served after Weatherwax completes his current state prison sentence for Assault in the First Degree with a Deadly Weapon. Each defendant will also be on federal supervised release for several years after serving his custodial sentence.

Evidence showed that NF is attempting to make a targeted push to bring their "hardcore" principles and teachings to Washington State. NF doctrine dates back to the late 1960s and is encapsulated in multiple written documents, to include their own "constitution". The rules of this criminal organization are mandatory and non-negotiable. NF leadership asserts they are engaged in this struggle for the betterment of Norteños - styled as "La Causa" or the "NF Movement". Many individuals who have left the gang stated that La Causa is a ruse as its just about making money to perpetuate the criminal organization, which does not hesitate to use violence to achieve their objectives.

This persistent prison gang is purposely targeting minors to recruit into the gang and then indoctrinates them into their myopic way of life. These children are taught that if they are worthy Norteños, they will commit crimes and will end up in prison - so they need to follow the NF rules to be in "good standing" to comfortably serve their inevitable prison sentence. To advance further, these children will "owe a body" to advance their lifelong "careers".

"These pervasive criminals intentionally seek out the next generation with the explicit goal of turning children into criminals (they call "soldiers") with full knowledge that these children will be part of the gang for the rest of their lives, and commit crimes both inside and outside of prisons across the Nation to further a bill-of-goods they've been sold," said Unit Chief Caitlin Baunsgard, the Assistant United States Attorney who handled this case. "The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Washington will not stand idly by and watch this happen. We have and will continue to work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to investigate and prosecute these predators."

The court documents and information presented at the sentencing hearings in the case showed the following.

Jacenir Amezcua DaSilva (gang name "Serio")

DaSilva is the leader of the Moses Lake Norteño set Pancho Villa Loco ("PVL"). In this leadership role, he passed along the radical teachings of NF and the importance of Norteño adherence to NF's "14 Bonds," which is NF's mandatory code of conduct for Norteños. He was also named the "channel" for Grant County by NF leadership, a highly prestigious position within NF's hierarchy. As "the channel", DaSilva oversaw Norteño and NF interests over all the Norteño sets in his geographic area. He also facilitated any activities necessary to ensure the success of the continuation of the NF criminal enterprise, including moving money, hosting gang meetings, discussing matters of common interest with other Norteño sets, passing along messages to the "street," and participating in NF internal "investigations" into misconduct - that is, actions taken counter to the gang's interests. Incarcerated Norteños would also reach out to DaSilva to pass along messages of Norteño import, which would include directing activities in "the streets." In DaSilva's case, this included assisting in the issuance of a "kill on sight" order for an individual some members of NF believed to be an informant.

DaSilva was deeply vested in the continuation of the Norteño way of life. He ran Norteño interests in Green Hill School, a juvenile detention facility that has become a "training ground" for the next generation of Norteño gang members whom the gang has indoctrinated into hardcore NF doctrines. Multiple witnesses identified the Green Hill School as "Gladiator School" because of its large population of Sureño gang members - the sworn enemies of Norteños. Norteño youth know that at Green Hill, they will have to fight every day - and if they survive, they will be considered worthy NF gladiators. Some young Norteños have gone as far as committing new serious crimes with the specific intent to be sent to this juvenile facility.

Jesus Antonio Mirelez (gang name "Dizzy")

Mirelez was previously sentenced in federal court for his unlawful possession of two firearms and high-capacity magazines in 2022. Notably, one of the firearms Mirelez pled guilty to possessing in 2022 was linked by the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network ("NIBIN") - a national database that stores digital images of ballistic evidence, including fired bullets - to six separate shooting scenes in the Yakima Valley in 2022:

During the sentencing process in his 2022 case, he promised the Court he would not squander the opportunity to change his life. However, once he had served his 2022 sentence and was released on federal supervision, Mirelez continued his criminal conduct without pause. Only four months after being sentenced and promising change, he leaned into the radicalization of his Yakima-area Norteño gang set, La Raza ("LR"), and aligned them with the hard-core doctrine of NF. He was also appointed to a leadership position in LR - as the official "channel". His penchant for victimizing the community also conducted. A few months later, he was drunk and mistook a random citizen as a Sureño and attempted to harm the citizen and follow the citizen into his residence. When he was rebuffed, he shot several rounds in the direction of the citizen's residence. About a month later, Mirelez did the same thing again, resulting in a drive-by shooting that ended in him crashing his car. Both times, Mirelez ran from the police and threw away his firearms in locations where children could potentially find them, further endangering the community.

Mirelez also assisted NF members with paying their mandatory NF taxes on profits of their illicit ventures. He even enlisted his mother, Melissa Mirelez, to get word to the "streets" after his arrest about who he believed the informant in his case was - for the specific purpose of ensuring that the individual would be killed.

Thomas Lee Weatherwax (a/k/a "Wax")

While serving a 57-year state sentence for Assault in the First Degree with a Deadly Weapon wherein he fired multiple rounds at multiple individuals he mistook for Surenos, Weatherwax continued to engage in criminal activity while inside the Washington State Penitentiary ("WSP") in Walla Walla, Washington. Weatherwax, a member of the Spokane area Norteño gang set "Red Boyz," chose to further his Norteño career by engaging in a scheme to smuggle drugs into the WSP to sell to other inmates and then to launder those drug proceeds. Weatherwax kept meticulous records of his inventory, his profits, and the "tax" payments that were made to NF. As a result of his conduct and being a good soldier for the NF cause, he was promoted by NF leadership to a position of authority in 2023 as a member of the NF Regimental Security Department Council at the WSP (the "RSD"). In that role, Weatherwax was one of three Norteño inmates in charge of overseeing NF interests and the success of the NF movement in all Washington Department of Corrections ("DOC") facilities. Weatherwax was appointed as the head the "finance" department. As explained by NF leadership in a message sent and received via contraband cell phones:

In his leadership role, Weatherwax oversaw "day-to-day" tasks within WSP, as well as managing overall responsibilities over all Norteños inside Washington's DOC programs. Like a first-line supervisor in a mainstream business, Weatherwax managed his team (Norteños in the Delta Wing at WSP), and reported the team's work to his NF supervisor:

As a leader in WSP, Weatherwax was responsible for accounting for the controlled substances present in WSP to distribute to other inmates as well as for an accounting of the money owed to NF. In addition, Weatherwax and his RSD cohorts were also in charge of big picture operations of Norteños in all Washington DOC prisons, which included discipline decisions that had been blessed by NF leadership. For example, the RSD followed the directive to "remove" a Norteño named "Joker" from good standing in a Washington DOC facility based on his perceived rule transgressions. Weatherwax then reported the order being carried out by way of a "filter" (a small secretive writing) to NF management. Washington DOC confirmed that on March 19, 2024, "Joker" was beaten in prison by multiple Norteños until a non-lethal chemical irritant was deployed by guards. Overall, Weatherwax played a crucial role in the ongoing success of NF's continuing criminal enterprise and ability to launder drug proceeds in furtherance of their criminal mission.

United States Attorney Pete Serrano commented on the extreme danger posed by these gang members, "even removing these predators from our communities and putting them behind bars has not been enough to stop them from engaging in ongoing violent crimes and victimizing our communities". Serrano highlighted the collaborative efforts of law enforcement to investigate this new NF threat and hold those responsible accountable: "The conduct of NF members is unconscionable, but it will always be outmatched by the dedication and commitment of the US Attorney's Office, ATF, BOP and our federal, state and tribal partnerships. The significant sentences imposed in these cases reflects the lengths to which federal law enforcement will go to protect our communities from being preyed upon by dangerous gang members."

ATF Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Blais highlighted the danger presented by NF: "These defendants and their criminal enterprise brought the blight of illegal guns, violence, and fear into our communities. Dangerous gangs like La Nuestra Familia think they can take root in our cities and operate freely, threatening our citizens' safety. I am here with a clear and unwavering message: ATF and our law enforcement partners will stop at nothing to bring them and every single one of their co-conspirators to justice."

This case is being investigated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives ("ATF") Violent Crime Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA"), the United States Bureau of Prisons ("BOP"), Homeland Security Investigations ("HSI"), the Bureau of Indian Affairs ("BIA"), the Yakima Police Department ("YPD"), and the Washington State Department of Corrections ("DOC"). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Caitlin Baunsgard and Benjamin Seal.

1:24-CR-2027-SAB