Salinas gang member pleads guilty to manslaughter

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) A Salinas Sureno gang member, 31-year-old Juan Antonio Cervantes, pleaded guilty to manslaughter Thursday, according to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office. He also admitted to personally using the gun and killing the man, Adrian Carranza, on behalf of the Sureno gang.

In September 2008, Cervantes' father was murdered in the front yard of his home near Hartnell College. Within two hours, Cervantes, also known as "Chaps," went to an apartment complex on Perez Street that was known to be a predominantly Norteno area.

Investigators said Cervantes and another person targeted two people who appeared to have Norteno association, and Cervantes opened fire. They said Cervantes injured one person with a semi-automatic pistol and killed the other before leaving the scene.

Police collected .9mm and .40 caliber bullet casings from the scene, and they later found a Hebron Street gang member with the .9mm gun. The Hebron Street gang is the same subset of the Sureno gang that police said Cervantes is a member of.

The case went cold until August 2017 when charges were filed against Cervantes. Between 2010 and 2017, he served two sentences for domestic violence and gun possession.

When Cervantes was charged with the homicide, Cervantes was housed in the Monterey County Jail. While there, investigators said he was part of a violent attack of another member of the Sureno gang called a "removal." The purpose of the attacks are to remove members from the gang. He was found guilty of the gang assault in October 2019.

Cervantes is set to be sentenced next month. He is facing 35 years in prison.