Gang Slay Suspect Faces Charges in Decade Old Case

A suspect police sought for more than a decade in one of San Bernardino's worst gangland slayings is caught in Mexico and returned to U.S.

A suspected killer who's believed to have fled to Mexico more than a decade ago after being sought in connection with one of San Bernardino's biggest gang slayings was returned to the U.S. following his capture in Tijuana, FBI officials said Thursday.

Froyland Chiprez, 36, was wanted in connection with the July 9, 2000 slaying of two men and their two half-brothers in a gangland feud dubbed "Dead Presidents," officials said.

"This brings closure to a long sought after case," said Lt. Daniel Keil, a San Bernardino Police Department spokesman.

The case became known as the Dead Presidents because the four men who were killed were the leaders of two gang cliques known as the West Side Verdugos, police said.

Three members of another clique, including a childhood friend of two of the victims, were arrested and convicted in the case.

Police sought Chiprez, who at the time of the killings, was on parole in California for a 1994 conviction for involuntary manslaughter, the FBI said.

Prosecutors said the slayings stemmed from a split in the gang between an older generation from Mexico and a younger one with roots in the neighborhood.

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Authorities issued a warrant for Chiprez's arrest and requested the help from a federal task force. That task force located Chiprez in Mexico and sought his return to the U.S.

San Bernardino County District Attorney Michael A. Ramos said his office will vigorously prosecute Chiprez.

"We will not rest until those responsible for the heinous murders … are brought to justice - even those who think they can flee," he said in a statement.

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