A 27-year-old member of an MS-13 faction rooted in the San Fernando Valley was sentenced Tuesday to 35 years in federal prison for his role in a knife murder and other racketeering offenses. Kevin Arteaga, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, admitted involvement in a 2018 killing in the Angeles National Forest in which the victim was stabbed and his body thrown down a hillside. The sentence caps a multi-year federal investigation into a Fulton clique that prosecutors say carried out violent initiations and targeted rival gang members across the valley.
As reported by MyNewsLA, Arteaga pleaded guilty in July 2025 to a federal racketeering conspiracy and admitted he had been expected to commit at least one homicide before becoming a "homeboy" in the clique. His plea agreement, filed in Los Angeles federal court and quoted by MyNewsLA, says, "After participating in a homicide, other clique members would jump in the prospective homeboy by administering a beating for 13 seconds." The outlet reports the court imposed a 35-year term on Tuesday.
Attack in the Angeles National Forest
Court papers detail that on April 7, 2018, Arteaga and co-defendants took a man identified in filings as J.H.C. to the mountains, stabbed him at least 32 times, and threw his body down a hill, according to the Department of Justice. The indictment lays out a string of other violent acts tied to the clique, including machete attacks and killings allegedly carried out in remote areas of Los Angeles County.
Fulton Clique’s Footprint in the Valley
Prosecutors say the gang’s "Fulton" clique claimed territory in Van Nuys, North Hollywood, and Panorama City and used Whitsett Park and areas near the Los Angeles Riverbed as strongholds, according to MyNewsLA. The outlet also notes that German Arnulfo Cruz Hernandez, identified as a lead defendant in the original indictment, has pleaded guilty to a role in one of the Angeles National Forest murders and is awaiting sentencing.
Broader Probe and Legal Stakes
A 12-count indictment unsealed in July 2019 named nearly two dozen defendants and charged multiple murders, robberies, and drug-trafficking in a case prosecutors said was aimed at the most violent arm of MS-13 in Los Angeles, as detailed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. That 2019 statement adds that 16 defendants were eligible for the federal death penalty and that the probe was led by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Task Force on Violent Gangs with the FBI, the LAPD, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
