LOS ANGELES – A Long Beach man pleaded guilty today to federal criminal charges for his role in the March 2021 murder of a victim in Inglewood during a marijuana deal.
Mateo Paul, 22, pleaded guilty to one count of interference with commerce by robbery (Hobbs Act) and one count of brandishing and discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence. Paul has been in custody since November 2023.
“This defendant’s recklessness led to a victim’s violent death and the prospect of a life sentence in federal prison,” said Acting United States Attorney Joseph T. McNally. “When local and federal law enforcement work together – as we did in this case – we can bring severe punishment for perpetrators of violent gun crime.”
According to his plea agreement, in March 2021, Paul and co-defendants Leandrew Raglin, 22, of Lancaster, and Iysis Elanore Smith, 22, of Inglewood, agreed to rob a marijuana dealer at gunpoint. They devised a plan to lure the dealer via a social media application to a meeting location, where they would ambush him at gunpoint and steal his marijuana.
On March 15, 2021, Smith approached the vehicle occupied by the victim. While Smith distracted the victim, 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 victim in the passenger seat. Raglin then walked around to the driver’s side of the vehicle and opened fire, fatally wounding the victim in the driver’s seat of the vehicle, according to court documents.
Raglin’s brandishing and discharge of the firearm fell within the scope of Paul’s criminal agreement and could reasonably have been foreseen to be a necessary or natural consequence of the unlawful agreement, the plea agreement states.
United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha scheduled a June 27 sentencing hearing, at which time Paul will face a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison.
Raglin has pleaded not guilty to the charges in the indictment against him in this case and is scheduled to go to trial on May 19. The criminal charges against Smith are still pending. Both defendants face potential life sentences.