Mexican Mafia Associate Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison for Role in Attack on Orange County Jail Inmate that Left Victim with Slashed Throat

SANTA ANA, California - An associate of the Mexican Mafia prison gang was sentenced today to 120 months in federal prison for participating in an attack on a fellow Orange County jail inmate in 2019, an assault that left the victim with his throat slashed.

Robert Amezcua, 54, a.k.a. "Flaco," of Santa Ana, was sentenced by United States District Judge Fred W. Slaughter.

At the conclusion of a three-day trial, a federal jury in January 2024 found Amezcua guilty of committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering (VICAR), specifically, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

On December 31, 2019, Amezcua - a member of the Madison Park clique of the Santa Ana-based Lopers street gang and an associate of the Mexican Mafia - took part in the assault of another inmate at the Theo Lacy Facility in Orange. Amezcua delivered more than 20 blows to the victim while another inmate, using a razor blade, slashed the victim's throat. The victim survived the attack. Amezcua is one of 31 defendants charged in a 33-count federal grand jury indictment brought in 2022.

Of the other two inmates charged with this assault and attempted murder, Mher Darbinyan, 50, a.k.a. "Hollywood Mike," of Valencia, is serving a 30-month federal prison sentence after pleading guilty in January 2024 to conspiracy to commit assault resulting in serious bodily injury. He admitted in his plea agreement that he and two co-conspirators assaulted the victim.

Robert Martinez, 43, a.k.a. "Lil Rob" and "Blacky," of Placentia, another defendant charged in the 2019 attack, is scheduled for trial on August 4 on this charge and additional charges.

Of the 31 defendants charged in the original indictment, a total of four defendants have been convicted at trial, consisting of three convicted of VICAR murder in October 2023, and Amezcua. An additional 16 have pleaded guilty. Three defendants remain for trial scheduled in July on charges of VICAR murder. An additional eight defendants remain scheduled for trial on racketeering conspiracy, VICAR murder, and related charges on August 4.

The FBI; the Santa Ana Police Department; the Orange County Sheriff's Department; the Federal Bureau of Prisons; the Anaheim Police Department; the Fullerton Police Department; the Orange County Probation Department; and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation investigated this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Greg Scally and Greg Staples of the Orange County Office and Trial Attorneys Chris Matthews and Grace Bowen of the Justice Department's Violent Crime and Racketeering Section are prosecuting this case.