XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, az.general, sac.politics
XPost: talk.politics.guns

A Phoenix man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the
possibility of parole for the 2015 cartel-related murders of four men in California, according to The Office of The District Attorney in Orange
County.

Raul Gastellum Flores, 33, of Phoenix, was convicted in April for
"murdering four men in a failed attempt to take over the drug business," district attorney officials said. He was convicted on four counts of first-degree murder, four special circumstances of murder during the
commission of a robbery and four special circumstances of multiple
murders.

On Nov. 9, 2015, the city of Orange police were called to an abandoned
burning SUV in a residential neighborhood. After firefighters put out the
fire, they found three men killed. They were identified as Antonio Medina, Fernando Meza and Edgar Berrelleza. All had suffered gunshot wounds, and
one had suffered stab wounds, as well.

Meza was still alive when the fire was started, and soot was found in his lungs, according to district attorney officials.

Six days later, officials said Edgar Berrelleza's brother, identified as
Joel Berrelleza, was found dead with gunshot wounds in a car in Fontana, California.

Court documents said Flores was recruited by Rosario Roman-Lopez to carry
out the murders, stealtens of thousands of dollars from the Berrelleza
brothers and murder them if they refused to pay. According to officials, Roman-Lopez was accused of orchestrating the murder plans because Edgar
and Joel Berrelleza cut him out of their drug dealing business, run by the Sinaloa Cartel. Flores traveled from Phoenix to Orange County to help Roman-Lopez carry out the murders.

Roman-Lopez was believed to have been killed later in Mexico in
retribution for the murders.

"The murders were not intended just to kill; they were carried out in a
way to maximize the terror for the murdered while maximizing the pleasure
for the murderers," Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said.
"Someone who takes such delight in taking the lives of others as a hired
gun is someone who should not spend a single minute more outside the walls
of a California state prison."

Officials said two other defendants in connection to the murders are still
at large and wanted on warrants.

Annie Goodykoontz is a reporter for The Arizona Republic. You can reach
her at AGoodykoontz@gannett.com.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix- breaking/2024/07/25/raul-gastellum-flores-of-phoenix-sentenced-in- california-for-2015-murders/74544313007/

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