A Long Beach man is expected to be sentenced Friday for his role in the fatal shooting of a marijuana dealer during a planned robbery in Inglewood five years ago.
Mateo Paul, 24, pleaded guilty in February 2025 to federal counts of interference with commerce by robbery and brandishing and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
He was charged in 2023 in Los Angeles federal court along with two co-defendants.
Leandrew Raglin, 23, of Lancaster was found guilty in downtown Los Angeles last year of four federal counts, including conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery and brandishing a firearm in a crime of violence resulting in death, constituting murder. He is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 4, at which time he will face between 10 years and life imprisonment.
The status of the case against Iysis Elanore Smith, 24, of Inglewood, is unclear.
Evidence presented at Raglin’s eight-day trial showed the trio had agreed to rob the dealer at gunpoint. The defendants planned to lure the dealer via social media to a meeting, where they intended to ambush him and steal his stash, the jury heard.
Evidence showed that on March 15, 2021, Smith approached the vehicle occupied by the victim. Federal prosecutors said that while Smith distracted the dealer, Paul and Raglin parked behind the victim’s vehicle. Raglin then exited the vehicle Paul was driving, approached the passenger side of the victim’s car and opened fire, repeatedly wounding the person in the passenger seat, federal prosecutors said.
Raglin then walked around to the other side of the vehicle and opened fire, fatally wounding the dealer in the driver’s seat, evidence showed.