A co-leader of the Armenian Power gang was handed a 16-year federal prison term on Monday — to run consecutively to a 25-year sentence in a separate case — for multiple racketeering crimes, including operating a debit card skimming operation targeting thousands of customers of 99 Cents Only stores across the Southland.
Arman “Horse” Sharopetrosian, 36, formerly of Burbank, was convicted in April of racketeering conspiracy, extortion conspiracy and extortion.
The jury found that while Sharopetrosian was incarcerated in 2009 in Avenal State Prison, he directed the shakedown of a member of the Armenian community, at one point even arranging the kidnapping of the victim at gunpoint in order to hasten the extortion payments.
Sharopetrosian, at various times, threatened to kill and kidnap the victim in order to coerce the payment of more than $20,000, using cell phones that had been smuggled into the prison, according to testimony.
In 2012, Sharopetrosian was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for orchestrating an identity theft and bank fraud scheme while serving a 10-year state term for carrying a concealed weapon and shooting at an occupied vehicle.
In the April trial, Sharopetrosian was found guilty, along with Armenian Power co-leader Mher “Capone” Darbinyan and gang associate Rafael Parsadanyan, of participating in the card-skimming operation.
The scheme involved installation of skimmers in stores in Riverside, Whittier, Huntington Beach, San Diego and elsewhere that were used to steal customers’ debit card numbers and pin codes.
Parsadanyan was sentenced last week to six years in federal prison. Darbinyan is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 7.
Federal prosecutors indicted 90 people three years ago for a range of criminal activities associated with the Armenian Power gang. All but five have been convicted.
According to court documents, the gang formed in East Hollywood in the 1980s.
— City News Service