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5 suspects tied to $50,000 murder-for-hire scheme in California

Jacob Shelton October 1, 2025

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18 January 2024, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schwerin: ILLUSTRATION - A policeman holds handcuffs in his hand. Photo: Marcus Brandt/dpa (Photo by Marcus Brandt/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Los Angeles, California – Federal prosecutors announced the arrests of five alleged gang members and associates Tuesday in connection with a murder-for-hire scheme that left the partner of an organized crime boss wounded in front of her children.

The case stems from a tangled web of violence between Los Angeles gangs and Armenian Organized Crime, which federal investigators say has long maintained a stronghold in the San Fernando Valley. According to affidavits filed in court, members of the Vanowen Street Locos and Elmwood Rifa 13 gangs were enlisted earlier this year in an attempt to kill Robert Amiryan, a 47-year-old Armenian crime figure based in Hollywood. Instead, the plot resulted in Amiryan’s significant other being shot as she pulled into her driveway with their two young children in the car.

Prosecutors identified the defendants as Carlos Armando Ochoa Grimaldi, 47, of Sylmar; Christopher Ayala, 29, also of Sylmar; Edir De La Cruz, 34, of Van Nuys; Maria de Jesus Mares, 39, of Van Nuys; and Jose de Jesus Gonzalez, Jr., 49, of Llano. Grimaldi, Ayala, De La Cruz, and Mares face charges of using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire. Gonzalez faces a separate conspiracy charge under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

Authorities seized multiple firearms, including a silencer, as well as more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition during the arrests. The five defendants are scheduled to make their first court appearances in Los Angeles federal court this week.

The arrests mark another chapter in an ongoing feud between Amiryan and his rival, Ara Artuni, 41, of Porter Ranch. Both men are described as avtoritety—a Russian word for “authority” used within Armenian Organized Crime—and are accused of waging a violent power struggle for control over territory in Los Angeles. Prosecutors say that struggle has already produced a string of attempted murders, assaults, and at least one kidnapping. Both Amiryan and Artuni are in federal custody awaiting separate trials in 2025 and 2026.

Court documents allege that in March, Grimaldi and another man, Vahagn Stepanyan, ambushed Amiryan’s partner outside her home. Though she survived, the incident highlighted the reckless violence surrounding the feud. Investigators say Mares served as the getaway driver and later complained that she would not be fully paid because the intended target—Amiryan—was not killed.

Stepanyan, already facing racketeering and firearms charges in a separate case, allegedly promised Mares $50,000 but delivered only a fraction of that amount after learning Amiryan had not been harmed.

If convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in federal prison. Prosecutors emphasized that the charges remain allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

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