A federal jury in Los Angeles returned guilty verdicts on June 4, 2026, against Jose Jonathan Castillo, an MS-13 member charged in connection with three murders committed in the Angeles National Forest in 2017 [1]. The case proceeded to trial in the United States District Court for the Central District of California under a long-running federal racketeering prosecution targeting MS-13 activity in Los Angeles County [1]. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, joined by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric W. Siddall from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, tried the case over 17 days [1].
The charges centered on two theories: racketeering conspiracy under RICO and murder in aid of racketeering covering three separate victims [1]. Evidence presented at trial included details of a killing in which a victim's heart was removed from his chest, conduct prosecutors attributed to MS-13 ritual practices [1]. The jury convicted Castillo on all counts, including three counts of murder in aid of racketeering [1].
No sentencing date has been announced. Murder in aid of racketeering under 18 U.S.C. § 1959 carries a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment, placing Castillo among the defendants in this prosecution facing the most severe sentencing exposure [1].
The conviction is the 30th-plus guilty verdict secured in what prosecutors have described as one of the largest ongoing federal MS-13 RICO prosecutions in Los Angeles history [1]. The case has proceeded in waves, with successive trial groups drawn from a broader indictment covering MS-13 members alleged to have committed violent crimes in furtherance of the gang's racketeering enterprise across the Los Angeles region [1]. No post-trial motions or notice of appeal was reported as of the verdict date.