Two teens sentenced to prison for cartel-arranged Chula Vista murder attempts

SAN DIEGO- (KESQ) - Two teenagers who were acting as hired gunmen for the Sinaloa Cartel when they committed a pair of shootings in Chula Vista that left two men wounded and one of their accomplices dead were each sentenced today to 25 years in federal prison.

Andrew Nunez, 16, and Johncarlo Quintero, 17, pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with the March 2024 attacks that occurred outside a Chili's restaurant and a Chula Vista apartment.

The boys, who were both 15 years old at the time, pleaded guilty to committing the attempted murders on behalf of a Mexican Mafia-affiliated gang based out of Los Angeles County, for which the boys believed they would be paid $50,000 each, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Both victims were shot, but survived.   

Nunez and Quintero also pleaded guilty to murder for the shooting death of their accomplice, 28-year-old Ricardo Sanchez. Sanchez was fatally shot by one of the attempted murder targets in self-defense and under the provocative act murder doctrine, the defendants were held accountable for his killing.  

The U.S. Attorney's Office says Nunez and Quintero were specifically recruited because of their age, as they would not be prosecuted by the state as adults.

Both teens will serve their sentences in juvenile facilities until they turn 21, at which time they will transferred to adult prisons.   

Quintero apologized during his Friday afternoon sentencing hearing in San Diego federal court both to the victims, their families, and his own family.

"I realize now that I hurt a lot of people other than myself but I want to make up for that,'' he said.

Nunez did not make a statement, but his defense attorney, Antonio Yoon, said his client was "exceptionally remorseful for what he did. He just hopes that the victim one day will forgive him."  

Three alleged Sinaloa Cartel associates who prosecutors say were involved in coordinating the murder attempts were later arrested, charged, and are facing prosecution in San Diego. A trial for those men is tentatively scheduled for October.

Prosecutors say the attempted slaying arose out of a cartel war in Tijuana that led to retaliatory murders and a stolen drug load that prompted the cartel to place ``hits'' on people they believed responsible, including one of the attempted murder victims. The U.S. Attorney's Office said the cartel previously attempted to kill the victim in Tijuana before using contacts in San Diego to stalk and attempt to kill him again.   

The defendants drove from Wilmington, in Los Angeles County, to a Chili's restaurant in Chula Vista, where their target was eating with his family, prosecutors said.

As the victim's family was leaving the restaurant, Quintero and Nunez drove behind them in the parking lot and Quintero fired one shot that struck the victim in his legs, prosecutors said. Quintero could not fire again because his gun jammed, so the defendants fled, but not before Nunez attempted to strike the victim with their vehicle.   

Later that night, the defendants and Sanchez showed up at the victim's home in another attempt to kill him.   

The U.S. Attorney's Office said their target was at a hospital for his injuries from the restaurant shooting, but the victim's family and a friend of his were at the residence.

When the friend opened the front door, Quintero and Nunez opened fire, striking him in the hand, arm and face, prosecutors said. The victim's friend returned fire with his own gun, killing Sanchez.

Nunez and Quintero fled the scene, but were arrested later by Chula Vista police.