A man from the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles has been sentenced to three years and one month in federal prison for throwing rocks and ignited debris at California Highway Patrol officers trapped underneath a downtown freeway overpass during an anti-immigration law enforcement protest last year, officials announced Tuesday.
Ismael Vega, 42, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter, who also ordered him to pay $253,415 in restitution.
Vega pleaded guilty in April in Los Angeles federal court to one count of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder.
According to his plea agreement, during the evening of June 8, 2025, two days after violence erupted against federal agents, Vega was part of a large group of protesters on the Main Street overpass above the Hollywood (101) Freeway in downtown Los Angeles. The protesters picked up debris, including cardboard and vegetation, and fireworks, lit them on fire and dropped them over the freeway overpass’ railing, aiming for a nearby CHP vehicle, which was within feet of CHP officers trapped underneath the overpass, authorities said.
Vega admitted in his plea agreement that he knew the officers were under the freeway overpass and that the objects thrown and burning debris dropped onto a vehicle created a substantial risk of death or serious bodily injury to the officers.
The defendant also admitted throwing rocks at law enforcement officers as the officers attempted to clear the overpass. He further acknowledged that he knowingly engaged in that behavior intending that it obstruct, impede and interfere with the law enforcement officers and their duties.
“This civil disorder stood apart in its magnitude,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “A sergeant in the California Highway Patrol with nearly three decades in law enforcement wrote a statement about how this incident stood apart and the impact it had on him and his son. His experience underscores how violent this incident became and the deep toll it took on all law enforcement present.”
Vega is the fifth defendant sentenced in connection with the case.
Co-defendant Yachua Mauricio Flores, 23, of Lincoln Heights, faces up to five years behind bars at his Aug. 3 sentencing hearing. The case’s lead defendant, Adam Charles Palermo, 40, of Rampart Village, has a Dec. 14 sentencing hearing scheduled, at which time he will face up to 20 years in federal prison, prosecutors noted.