US AG Authorizes Federal Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty for Three LA Gangsters Charged with Murder

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche has directed federal prosecutors in Los Angeles to seek the death penalty against three members of a transnational street gang charged with murdering a former gang member who was cooperating with law enforcement on a racketeering and methamphetamine trafficking case, officials announced Thursday.

In a letter to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli on Wednesday, Blanche told prosecutors in the Central District of California they are “authorized and directed” to seek the death penalty against Dennis Anaya Urias, 27, Grevil Zelaya Santiago, 26, and Roberto Carlos Aguilar, 31. All are from South Los Angeles.

Blanche said the U.S. Attorney’s Office may not enter into a plea agreement with the three defendants that requires withdrawal of the notice of intention to seek death without the prior approval of the attorney general.

“Thugs and terrorists will find no shelter under this administration,” Essayli posted Thursday on social media. “If you take someone’s life, then you will forfeit your own.”

Urias, Santiago and Aguilar are each charged with one count of murder in aid of racketeering and two counts of conspiracy to retaliate against a witness or informant.

The murder count carries a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison and a possible death sentence.

Trial is set for July 21 in L.A. federal court.

Source: mynewsla.com, Staff, April 9, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

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