Overview
- A jury found Ysrael Jacob Cordova and Ricardo Valenzuela guilty on July 22, 2026 of murder in aid of racketeering for the 2017 shooting of Robert Rios outside his Placentia home.
- Prosecutors showed surveillance video and testimony that Cordova and Valenzuela carried long guns during an attempted robbery and that Cordova fired the fatal shot.
- Evidence at trial traced the robbery order from an O.C. Mexican Mafia leader in custody to an incarcerated intermediary who passed the instruction to the shooters.
- Sentencing is set for Oct. 22, 2026, when both men face mandatory life prison terms under the VICAR statute, which covers murder committed to benefit a criminal organization.
- The convictions are part of a wider federal RICO-style probe that has produced 15 convictions so far and includes trials of alleged middlemen and jailed directors scheduled in 2027.