A fugitive South Los Angeles gang member allegedly forged ties with Mexican cartels and passed along sensitive law-enforcement information to help former Olympic snowboarder Ryan James Wedding operate a billion-dollar drug-trafficking network.
Roberto Gomez, 51, also known as “Fat Boy,” “Fats” and “Rooster,” was charged this week in a six-count federal indictment accusing him of assisting Wedding’s alleged criminal enterprise.
Gomez, a member of Los Angeles’ notorious 38th Street gang, fled to Mexico in 2000 after facing robbery charges. In 2018, he was separately indicted on drug-trafficking and money-laundering charges.
“While in Mexico, Gomez met and communicated with leaders of foreign terrorist organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel and Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), and cultivated relationships with individuals who had access to law-enforcement-sensitive information from Mexican and U.S. agencies,” the Justice Department said.
“Gomez obtained that information related to law-enforcement operations, including arrests, drug seizures, warrant executions, and the filing of criminal charges, and provided this information to his co-conspirators, including Wedding.”
Prosecutors allege that Gomez transported cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl while supplying narcotics to multiple criminal organizations.
Wedding, 45, is a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder who was placed on the FBI’s most-wanted list in 2025. He was arrested in 2008 while attempting to buy cocaine and ultimately spent four years in federal prison.
He later escaped to Mexico, where he became wanted by the FBI in connection with a $15 million reward tied to his alleged transnational drug-trafficking operation. Authorities say the network moved cocaine from Colombia into the United States and Canada. Wedding was arrested in Mexico City in January and extradited to the United States to face the charges.
The alleged drug kingpin is also accused of ordering the murder of a federal witness who was fatally shot in Colombia last year. Prosecutors further believe Wedding was linked to the killings of a couple in 2023 and a 39-year-old man in 2024.
Also unsealed this week was a two-count indictment against Edgar Aaron Vazquez Alvarado.
Alvarado, who was fatally shot by Mexican police last week, founded the violent criminal organization El Cártel Nuevo Imperio, which allegedly trafficked cocaine for Wedding. Prosecutors say that from October 2024 through January 2026, Alvarado helped Wedding evade U.S. law enforcement.
Last week, a Mexican district judge was arrested on allegations that he accepted a $2 million bribe to secure the release of Wedding’s alleged right-hand man.
Authorities accused Luis Benítez Alcántara, 49, of Mexico City, of taking the payment in exchange for granting Andrew Clark, 36, bond and ordering his release.