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Top insets, from left: Anthony Valdez, John Magat, Saiki Tavale, Mark Garcia, and Analu Tavale (Salinas Police Department). Center inset: Andrew Alvarado (SPD). Background: A murder scene from January 2017 connected to the “Murder Squad” in Salinas, California. (KION/YouTube).
Another member of the so-called “Murder Squad” in California who allegedly “killed for sport” — going on “hunts” for people they suspected of being rival gang members, while also slaughtering innocent bystanders in the process — has pleaded guilty to being part of the bloodshed.
Andrew Alvarado, 34, entered his guilty plea Tuesday in federal court and was scheduled to be sentenced in July for his participation in the “Murder Squad” mayhem, which included at least 11 murders in Salinas — three that Alvarado was directly involved in, according to local NBC affiliate KSBW.
He helped orchestrate multiple shootings, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He and his “Murder Squad” co-defendants have also been linked to countless other crimes — including robbery, drug trafficking and selling illegal guns.
Court documents obtained by KSBW detail how the group was part of 11 murders and at least 17 attempted murders between 2015 and 2018. Five members were sentenced in September to a combined 161 years behind bars for the slayings.
The defendants — with nicknames such as “Gunner” and “Hitter” and whose ages range from 27 to 37 — terrorized the city of Salinas and forever altered the lives “of so many innocent members of our community,” according to U.S. Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey, who announced their sentences in a September 2024 news release.
“As described in the court filings, their conduct is reprehensible,” Ramsey said. “Thanks to the strong collaboration between federal and state law enforcement over the course of many years, these men will rightfully spend the next few decades of their lives in prison.”
The group included Siaki “Shocky” “Gunner” Tavale, 27, sentenced to 41 years in prison; John “Romeo” Magat, 37, sentenced to 37 years; Anthony “Hitter” “Tony Boronda” Valdez, 27, sentenced to 31 years; Anelu “Angel” Tavale, 28, sentenced to 27 years; and Mark Anthony “Tony from Santa Rita” Garcia, 33, sentenced to 25 years. They pleaded guilty in May to murder and racketeering conspiracy.
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The group is allegedly affiliated with what’s known as “Norteños” — meaning Northern California street gang. They sought out rival “Sureños” — or Southern California street gang members or people they thought were affiliated with them — in Salinas, a city with a population of 163,542, more than 100 miles south of San Francisco.
The gang used what prosecutors called military-style tactics in their hunts. They traveled in a convoy with designated shooter and spotter vehicles. They targeted Hispanic males, people with shaved heads, and people who wore blue, the rival color.
Once they identified a target, they would sometimes “hit up” their victims to confirm their gang status before shooting but did not always wait for an answer before firing, prosecutors said. After emptying their magazines, they sped away with the spotter vehicle following to distract or intercept law enforcement.
While the group wanted to go after rival gang members, prosecutors said most of their victims were not affiliated with any criminal organizations and were just random people caught in their crosshairs.
Alvarado reportedly admitted to participating in at least six “hunts” where he acted as the shooter on three occasions; three deaths and one injury were reported. One of the hunts was launched at a gathering to honor the family of a co-conspirator who was killed in a car crash, with Alvarado among the gang members leaving the event and going out to target rival gangbangers.
Alvarado, who served as both a shooter and a spotter, is scheduled to be sentenced on July 15. He is reportedly facing life in prison and a $250,000 fine for a racketeering charge that he pleaded guilty to and 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, as well as another $250,000 fine.
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