Alleged gang member pleads guilty to robbery, gets a year

A man described by police as a “high ranking” gang member has been sentenced to 366 days in federal prison for conspiring with others to rob a suspected drug house in Union City, court records show.

Juan Gonzalez, 50, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, after pleading guilty to a federal conspiracy to commit robbery charge. Gonzalez was arrested in 2021 as part of a massive federal and state investigation aimed at the Nuestra Familia prison gang and its Northern California-based subsidiaries, the Norteños. Prosecutors say Gonzalez is a “high ranking” member of a Norteño subset in the South Bay.

Gonzalez remains out of custody. He was supposed to report to prison in midFebruary, but his attorney convinced the judge to extend his deadline to April 3, writing in a motion that Gonzalez, a construction worker, needed extra time to earn money for rent and pet care after a “slow” winter. Prosecutors say that Gonzalez and his co-defendants were recorded on government wiretaps discussing various criminal activity, including the robbery plot. In one conversation, they allegedly talked about how drug dealers lived at the home but that they wanted to wait until the would-be victims' children went to school before going in to pull off the caper.

After the FBI raided the Union City home the group was plotting to rob, they allegedly talked about how there was likely “a rat” in their midst, and one of Gonzalez's co-defendants assaulted that person. They also recorded Gonzalez talking about drug trafficking and wanting to “smash” rivals, prosecutors said.

Months after Juan Gonzalez was indicted, his son, Isiah Gonzalez, was shot and killed during a Halloween 2021 road rage incident in San Jose, court records show. Two suspects were arrested and charged with murder.

Because of that tragedy, Juan Gonzalez — who raised his son as a single father — now aspires to be a grief counselor, his attorney Adam Pennella wrote in a sentencing memo.

“From the ashes of this tragedy, however, he has not only avoided regression and relapse into destructive or harmful decision-making but has curated a network of support and found a purpose for living,” Pennella wrote. “He spends his time trying to move forward, talking and working with others in his circumstances, and planning for a future that involves counseling others suffering from the same type of grief that plagues him. Such resilience is all too rare.”