Overview

• Four suspects — Carlos Armando Ochoa Grimaldi, Christopher Ayala, Edir De La Cruz and Maria de Jesus Mares — are charged with using interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire.
• A fifth defendant, Jose de Jesus Gonzalez Jr., was arrested on a separate complaint and faces a RICO conspiracy charge tied to an August 2023 shooting of Vahan Harutyunyan.
• Prosecutors say the plot grew from a power struggle between avtoritet Robert Amiryan and rival Ara Artuni, with both men already in federal custody awaiting separate trials.
• Court affidavits describe a March 14, 2025 attack in which Amiryan’s partner was shot as she arrived home with their children, with Mares allegedly driving the getaway car and expecting a $50,000 payment.
• Agents executing search warrants seized five firearms, a silencer, firearm parts and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition; if convicted, the defendants face up to 20 years in federal prison.