Man convicted of 4 cartel killings, setting bodies on fire in Orange County

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif. - A man from Phoenix was convicted of killing four people in a cartel-related murder.

According to the Orange County DA's office, Raul Gastellum Flores, 33, was convicted of four felony counts of first-degree murder, four special circumstances of murder during the commission of a robbery, and four special circumstances of multiple murders.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 19.

According to the DA's office, in 2015, Flores fatally shot three people and set their bodies on fire inside a burning car during a failed attempt to take over the drug business. The car was left abandoned in a residential neighborhood in Orange in the middle of the day.

The body of a fourth man was found inside a car in Fontana six days after he was shot to death. The DA's office said his killers recorded his dying moments on a cell phone.

Two other defendants charged in connection with the murders remain wanted on warrants. A third person, Rosario Adan Roman-Lopez, who orchestrated the hit, is believed to have been murdered in Mexico in retribution for the murders, and a fourth was a cooperating witness, the DA's office said in a statement.

"Rosario Roman-Lopez is accused of orchestrating the murders in retaliation for Edgar and Joel Berrelleza’s decision to cut him out of their drug dealing business run by the Sinaloa Cartel. Flores was recruited by Roman-Lopez to help carry out the murders, traveling from Phoenix, Arizona to Orange County with several handguns and Ak-47s to steal tens of thousands of dollars from the Berrelleza brothers, and to murder them if they refused to pay," a part of the statement read.

On November 9, 2015, Flores and several accomplices kidnapped Antonio Medina, Fernando Meza, and Edgar Berrelleza from an apartment in Orange. They were led into a car and held hostage at gunpoint while waiting for orders from Roman-Lopez, the DA's office said.

At that time, Meza and Medina were shot multiple times in the head and chest. Edgar was then shot in the head and back multiple times. The accomplices exited the car, while Flores set it on fire.

Investigators say Flores went to an apartment where Roman-Lopez and other accomplices had kidnapped and tied up Joel Berrelleza, Edgar’s brother. They allegedly stole safes, money, and over $60,000 worth of heroin from the apartment.

"Flores and another accomplice forced Joel Berrelleza into his Pontiac where he was shot three times as they drove and recorded his dying breaths on a cell phone. His body was left inside his vehicle in Fontana for six days until a passerby called police to report a man had been sleeping inside the vehicle for several days," the DA's office said.

"These murders were calculated to inflict the maximum amount of terror not only on their victims, but also on the neighbors and first responders who had to witness the absolute horror that was unleashed on their neighborhood," said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. "This was someone who took absolute pleasure in carrying out these killings."