Mexican Mafia Associate Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – November 13, 2023

SAN DIEGO – Juan Castro of San Diego was sentenced today in federal court to 10 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release for selling 109 grams of methamphetamine to a cooperating individual. 

A government memorandum submitted for Castro’s sentencing described him as a high-ranking member of the San Ysidro (or “Sidro”) street gang and an associate of the Mexican Mafia. Castro oversaw day-to-day operations for Sidro which included collecting payments in exchange for allowing others to commit crimes in the San Ysidro area. The payments, or taxes, were then distributed to high-ranking Mexican Mafia members. In sentencing Castro, U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns called him a “hand puppet for the Mexican Mafia.”

Castro was apprehended after a long-term investigation by the FBI’s Violent Crimes Task Force and Gang Group.

DEFENDANT                                               Case Number 23-cr-00371-LAB                                        

Juan Castro                                                     Age: 38                       San Diego, CA

SUMMARY OF CHARGES

Distribution of Methamphetamine – Title 21, U.S.C., Section 841(a)(1)

Maximum penalty: Forty years in prison, with a mandatory minimum of five years, and $5 million fine

AGENCIES

Federal Bureau of Investigation – Violent Crimes Task Force – Gang Group (VCTF-GG), which currently includes investigators from the following agencies:

• Federal Bureau of Investigation
• San Diego Police Department
• Homeland Security Investigations
• Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
• California Department of Corrections
• San Diego County Sheriff’s Department
• Chula Vista Police Department
• National City Police Department

Although not currently part of VCTF-GG, during the investigation of this case, VCTF-GG also included investigators from the following:

• Bureau of Prisons
• San Diego District Attorney’s Office of Investigations