A 36-year-old shot caller pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to fatally shooting a woman in Commerce and for his part in a racketeering conspiracy for a Whittier-based street gang.
Chase Carrillo, who is known by the moniker “Sicko,” pleaded guilty to a count of racketeering conspiracy and using a firearm in a crime of violence resulting in death. Carrillo, who is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 26, faces between 35 to 50 years in federal prison, according to the terms of his plea deal.
Carrillo is the lead defendant in a racketeering indictment targeting his gang, federal prosecutors said. He was active in the gang from 2014 through June 27, 2023, according to his plea agreement.
On Sept. 20, 2014, while the defendant was serving time in a state prison, he “violently assaulted two California corrections officers,” according to the plea agreement.
The fatal shooting stems from a dispute with a rival gang member on Jan. 13, 2022, in the parking lot of a Starlight Inn Motel in El Monte, according to the plea agreement.
The argument turned violent when two other gang members joined Carrillo in pistol-whipping a man before they opened fire on him, wounding him, according to the plea deal.
Two men involved in the violent clash spoke during a jailhouse call about a victim in the attack who was identified in a police report, prosecutors said.
The two discussed retaliating against the man for cooperating with authorities, prosecutors said.
“On March 3, 2022, co-conspirator No. 2 directed his attorney, who was representing him in state court, to give co-conspirator No. 1 the paperwork, and the attorney did so that same day,” according to the plea agreement.
While that victim and a woman were waiting at a street light on March 5, 2022, at Telegraph Road and Garfield Avenue in Commerce, Carrillo and another man pulled up behind them, according to the plea deal. Carrillo got out and fired at least two rounds into the Ford Escape, killing the woman behind the wheel, prosecutors said.
The intended target escaped injury, prosecutors said.
Carrillo admitted he intended to shoot the man but instead killed the woman, authorities said.
Prosecutors will recommend 35 to 50 years in prison, but the maximum sentence would be life in prison.