SAN FRANCISCO—A federal grand jury in San Francisco yesterday indicted Victor Flores, of Petaluma, California, with attempted murder of three federal agents, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.
The second superseding indictment adds additional counts to the charges that Flores already faces. It alleges that, Flores, a/k/a Little Creeper, 20, attempted to kill three federal agents on May 3, 2012. He is further alleged to have used a firearm during that incident.
According to the second superseding indictment, Flores is a member of the 500 Block/C Street Gang, which is a racketeering enterprise. Its members and associates agreed to conduct the affairs of the enterprise through, among other crimes, narcotics trafficking, extortion, robbery, and murder. The 500 Block/C Street Gang was a Norteño gang that warred not only with Sureño gangs but also with rival Norteño gangs.
“As this incident illustrated, our agents put their lives on the line every day in their ongoing efforts to promote public safety,” said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Director John Morton. “We want to thank the law enforcement officers who’ve worked tirelessly to investigate the shootings and we are gratified the alleged perpetrator will now be held to answer for those crimes.”
Of the three Homeland Security Investigations special agents who were wounded during the May enforcement action, one has returned to duty full time. The other two are continuing to undergo therapy and both are making progress on their recovery.
The defendant has been in federal custody since May 4, 2012, when he was arraigned on charges alleged in the first superseding indictment. The defendant’s next scheduled court appearance is at 11:30 a.m. on August 3, 2012, for a hearing before United States District Court Judge Susan Illston.
The maximum statutory penalty for each count of attempted murder of a federal agent, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1114, is 20 years. The maximum statutory penalty for using and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, in violation Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(c), is life in prison. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
Acadia L. Senese and W.S. Wilson Leung are the Assistant United States Attorneys, who are prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kevin Costello and Daniel Charlier-Smith. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations, Petaluma Police Department, South San Francisco Police Department, and the Daly City Police Department.
Please note, an indictment contains only allegations against an individual and, as with all defendants, Victor Flores must be presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
