Leader of Inland Empire Street Gang Sentenced to 9 Years in Federal Prison for Ordering 2023 Kidnapping in Riverside

LOS ANGELES – A leader of a Riverside County-based street gang was sentenced today to 108 months in federal prison for ordering – while behind bars in a different criminal case – the 2023 kidnapping of a woman in Riverside as punishment for losing the gang’s extortion proceeds when law enforcement seized them. 

Luis Ramirez, 49, formerly of Jurupa Valley, was sentenced by United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld Jr who ordered him to serve the sentence consecutive to his current life sentence in state prison.

Ramirez pleaded guilty in July 2025 to one count of violent crime in aid of racketeering (VICAR). He has been in federal custody since June 2024.

According to his plea agreement and other court documents, Ramirez was a leader of Westside Riva (WSR), a Jurupa Valley-based street gang. The gang engaged in a variety of racketeering activities, including extorting local businesses for the payment of “taxes” for permission to operate within areas the gang claimed as its territory.

Westside Riva also conducted, managed, and supervised an illegal gambling business within its territory. It required other gambling businesses operating within its territory to pay a portion of revenue for the gang’s permission to operate.

To maintain his status as a gang leader, Ramirez – who was serving a sentence in California state prison for attempted murder – ordered the kidnapping of a victim identified in court documents as “Person 1.” On September 27, 2023, co-defendants Jose Jonathan Rubalcaba Alarcon, 23, and Gilbert Rey Martinez, 22, both of Jurupa Valley, kidnapped the victim and ultimately held the victim at a gang-controlled clothing store in Riverside. Once inside the store, Rubalcaba and Martinez forced the victim inside a locked bathroom. The victim was held inside the store for several days. The victim ultimately escaped on October 1, 2023, after being left alone inside the store.

“At [Ramirez’s] direction, [Rubalcaba and Martinez] kidnapped and confined Person 1 in a WSR-controlled store, without regular access to food, for four to five days,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “Person 1 was malnourished, did not have access to necessary medication, suffered physical abuse at the hands of…Martinez, suffered emotional distress, and was ultimately admitted to a hospital following her escape.”

Rubalcaba and Martinez have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in this case. Martinez is serving a 46-month prison sentence and Rubalcaba is serving a 41-month prison sentence.

The FBI and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Peter H. Dahlquist and Erin C. Kiss of the Riverside Branch Office prosecuted this case.