Five members of the "Sur-13″ gang were sentenced to federal prison Monday on carjacking and firearms charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced.
“These gang members went on a weekend-long, armed robbery crime spree that spread across metro Atlanta, and included at least seven carjackings or attempted carjackings, the robbery of a small grocery store, and several pedestrian robberies," U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said.
Often armed with AK-47s and other weapons, the defendants, members of Sur-13, or Sureños-13, committed crimes in Clayton, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton and Gwinnett counties starting on Dec. 12, 2008, authorities said. The crime spree ended when the gang members were involved in a wreck during a police chase and a juvenile member was killed.
The defendants pleaded guilty in December 2010 and were sentenced Monday.
Pedro Barrera-Perez, 30, of Stone Mountain was sentenced to 24 years in prison for one count of armed robbery of a grocery store, four counts of carjacking or attempted carjacking, and one count of discharging a firearm during one of the carjackings.
Gloria Galvan, 21, of Jonesboro, received a sentence of 21 1/2 years, and Irma Ovalles, 21, of Stone Mountain, got 19 years in prison on the same charges. All three were ordered to pay $19,272 each in restitution.
Jerry Arriaga, 22, of Austell, was sentenced to 16 1/2 years and ordered to pay $11,767 in restitution for one count of carjacking, one count of attempted carjacking and one count of discharging a firearm.
Francisco Arrellano, 20, of Lithia Springs, received 13 years, 5 months in prison and must pay $2,267 in restitution. He pleaded guilty to one count of attempted carjacking and one count of discharging a firearm.
All of the defendants' federal prison sentences will be followed by five years of supervised release.