Three men, including activist, indicted on charges of three San Francisco murders in Norteño racketeering case
Federal prosecutors in the Bay Area charged three young men with racketeering and murder in connection with three shooting deaths in San Francisco.
SAN FRANCISCO — In a sweeping indictment aimed at a branch of the Norteño gang here, three men in their early 20s have been indicted on charges related to three Bay Area homicides.
The killings include a 15-year-old boy who was shot dead after allegedly being mistaken for a rival gang member, a man shot and killed while walking with his girlfriend, who was shot in the head and survived, and the killing of a man whose body wasn’t discovered for almost two years later when tree trimmers came across it in the Oakland hills.
Fernando “Nando” Madrigal, 22, Alvaro “G-Boy” Reina Cordero, 23, and Oscar “Cutty” Guadron Diaz, 21, were charged with racketeering, murder, and gun possession, prosecutors announced Monday. The indictment links all three to a gang known as the San Francisco Mission District Norteños and charge them with two fatal shootings in 2018, and one in 2019.
Madrigal already facing charges related to the 2019 shooting, in which 15-year-old Day’von Hann was killed. At the time of his arrest, he was known as an activist in San Francisco who spoke out against juvenile incarceration and other issues related to justice reform. Now authorities say that Madrigal also killed a man the year earlier, near the area around Candlestick Park.
That victim’s identity has not been released, but authorities say he was killed July 12, 2018. His body was discovered February 2020 by tree trimmers working in a “wooded area of Oakland,” according to the indictment. A month later, the victim’s skull was discovered in a nearby area. Authorities allege Madrigal lured the victim to a meetup at Candlestick Park, claiming he wanted to buy marijuana.
Reina Cordero and Guadron Diaz are charged with a January 23, 2018 double shooting in San Francisco, in which 20-year-old Duby Ortiz-Guardado was fatally struck by gunfire. According to authorities, the defendants left the area briefly then returned, intent on killing Ortiz-Guardado’s girlfriend as well. They allegedly shot her in the face but she survived.
Like Hann, authorities say Ortiz-Guardado was killed simply because he was mistaken for a rival gang member. A news release by the U.S. Attorney says the gang was attempting to “dominate” rivals.
Authorities also recovered ballistics evidence connecting Hann’s killing to a shooting on Army Street that occurred a short time after. After the second shooting, a black Honda — believed to be Madrigal’s car — led police on a chase that reached speeds of 120 miles per hour before escaping.
“Video evidence and witnesses put Madrigal’s black Honda at both July 8, 2019 shooting scenes, and his cell phone’s location is consistent with the route of the high-speed chase,” prosecutors wrote in court records earlier this year. “Instagram videos from the days leading up to the murder show Madrigal with a black rifle that he calls his ‘mini chop’ and using a gloved hand to load it with ammunition consistent with the casings recovered from the shooting scenes.”
Guadron Diaz, who surrendered to federal authorities over the weekend, pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday morning in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler. His next court date has been set for December 22. Reina Cordero was arrested last week and made his first court appearance on Friday.
The charges carry a maximum term of life imprisonment or death. All three are being held in the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.