Illegal Alien from El Salvador Sentenced to More Than 5 Years in Federal Prison for SoCal Robbery Spree He Resumed Upon Illegally Reentering the U.S.

LOS ANGELES – An illegal alien from El Salvador was sentenced today to 63 months in federal prison for committing seven armed robberies of convenience stores in Southern California in 2024 – a crime spree interrupted by his deportation to El Salvador but which he resumed when he illegally reentered the United States.

Jesus Soto-Parada, 28, of South Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge Dolly M. Gee, who also ordered him to pay $17,815 in restitution.

Soto-Parada pleaded guilty in December 2025 to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act) and seven counts of Hobbs Act robbery. He has been in federal custody since July 2024.

“After committing a string of armed robberies and being deported, this defendant illegally returned to our country and went right back to terrorizing our community,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “No one should have to fear for their life while earning a living. Today’s sentence holds this criminal illegal alien accountable with several years behind bars in federal prison.” From January 2024 until his deportation in April 2024, Soto-Parada committed at least six robberies in Buena Park, Cypress, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Newport Beach, and Agoura Hills. During two separate robberies on January 11, 2024, Soto-Parada’s co-conspirators pointed what appeared to be a handgun at the store clerk and asked, “Where’s the money?” On January 18, 2024, during an armed robbery in Fullerton, one of Soto-Parada’s co-conspirators brandished what appeared to be a handgun, racked the slide, pointed the handgun at the store clerk, and demanded money.

In a robbery that occurred on February 13, 2024, in Newport Beach, one of Soto-Parada’s co-conspirators brandished what appeared to be a black pistol, racked the slide of the pistol while pointing it at the store clerk, and demanded money. Soto-Parada returned illegally to the United States in 2024 and then robbed a 7-Eleven in Gardena with co-defendant, Daniel Pavon, 22, of Gardena, on June 13, 2024. During that robbery, Pavon pointed a replica firearm at an employee while Soto-Parada stole cash from a register. Soto-Parada and Pavon then fled with approximately $250 from the 7-Eleven. Law enforcement soon afterward arrested them.

In each of the seven robberies that Soto-Parada committed, a co-conspirator had a firearm or replica firearm that was used to threaten the employee’s life, typically by pointing the firearm at the employee while demanding money. “[Soto-Parada] and his co-conspirators committed these robberies by threatening the lives of the various victim-employees, causing those employees to think they would be killed and their children without their parent if they did not comply with [Soto-Parada’s] and his co-conspirators’ demands for money,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum.

Pavon is serving a four-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty on March 11 to four counts of misprision of a felony. Judge Gee ordered him to pay $250 in restitution.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Orange County Violent Crime Task Force (OCVCTF), which is comprised of federal and local law enforcement agencies, including the ATF, the Brea Police Department, the Santa Ana Police Department, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the Newport Beach Police Department, and the Fullerton Police Department, is investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorneys Jena MacCabe of the Major Crimes Section and Caitlin Campbell of the Orange County Office prosecuted this matter.