The suspected "shot caller" of a South Los Angeles street gang pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges that could bring a lifetime prison sentence.
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Eliseo Luna, 49, of South Los Angeles was arrested in August 2022 during a predawn sweep in which 28 members of the gang were taken into custody as part of racketeering, narcotics and firearms cases that named about 40 suspected members and associates of the criminal organization, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Luna, said to be the gang's leading member on the street, entered his plea in downtown Los Angeles to charges of racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. He could face up to life in federal prison at sentencing on June 23, prosecutors said.
The arrests in 2022 were the culmination of a years-long probe into the gang's activities involving wiretaps and extensive surveillance dubbed "Operation Rabbit Hole" by the FBI and the multi-agency Los Angeles Metropolitan Task Force on Violent Gangs. The gang is tied to the Mexican Mafia prison gang, prosecutors said.
Luna is accused of overseeing the gang's drug trafficking activities, giving orders to membership and leaders, and authorizing the assault and murder of members in bad standing, according to the indictment.
For example, in telephone calls beginning on or about Feb. 8, 2020, Luna, using coded language, instructed a co-conspirator to find and assault a certain gang member in order to discipline him. Following the calls, the co- conspirator recruited other gang members and associates to assist in locating the member, according to the plea agreement filed in L.A. federal court.
The defendant also engaged in possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin, the indictment says.
Prosecutors say the decades-old gang claimed control primarily over the South Park area of Los Angeles bounded by Slauson Avenue to the south, Vernon Avenue to the north, Central Avenue to the east, and the Harbor (110) Freeway to the west.
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