A South Los Angeles gang member, known on the streets as "AK-47", has been handed a 188-month prison sentence today for slinging fentanyl and peddling firearms, federal officials reported. Jose Luis Alonso, 28, from Huntington Park, was part of the infamous Florencia 13 street gang, and according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, was deep in the drug game – dealing thousands of fentanyl pills and hefty quantities of methamphetamine and cocaine.
Thrown behind bars since October 2022, Alonso pleaded guilty last August to a single count of fentanyl distribution. In a plea deal detailed on the Department of Justice's website, the convicted felon admitted his role in moving about 8,944 fentanyl pills, 855 grams of the lethal powder, Alonso also copped to dealing with 2.5 kilograms of meth and 4 kilograms of blow.
But Alonso's rap sheet didn't stop at dope. The thug also sold 36 firearms and 16 forbidden machine gun conversion kits over a five-month spree, all the while flaunting the law without a license to sell weapons. This vendetta against societal norms landed him a stiff sentence from United States District Judge David O. Carter, epitomizing a tough-on-crime stance for such perilous unlawfulness.
With a history of violent crime, including a 2016 robbery conviction and a 2020 slammer spat labeled prison assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, Alonso's latest stint of criminality played out while he ironically was on probation. Alonso's cronies are also feeling the heat. Jasmine Pereira, 26, has been slapped with a 24-month stint in the clink, while Kevin Alonso, 27, is on deck for sentencing in February. The youngest of the bunch, Berenice Segura, 23, will learn her fate come April.
The crosshairs of justice zeroed in on Alonso thanks to the joint efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Los Angeles Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Declan T. Conroy of the General Crimes Section led the charge in court, ensuring this gangbanger's lengthy vacation behind bars.
