Onetime Member of ‘Coronado White Boys’ Faces Weapons Charges

A one-time member of the so-called “Coronado White Boys,” which local authorities believed was an organized gang but some island residents defended as a harmless teen-agers’ club, has been indicted on accusations of converting rifles into automatic weapons and producing homemade hand grenades.

Jaime Johnson, 21, who now lives in Clairemont, was charged Wednesday along with three others for possession of the firearms.

Jose Heriberto Castillo, a 20-year-old San Diego State University student; his brother, Hugo Castillo, a 21-year-old Wells Fargo security guard, and Robert Tello, 20, a student at San Diego City College, also were indicted by a federal grand jury. Tello and Jose Castillo were classmates at La Jolla High School.

The four were arraigned Thursday.

Johnson was being held in federal prison without bail because he was believed to be the only one who was producing the guns and grenades before distributing them to the others.

Bail was set at $50,000 for Jose Castillo, $25,000 for Hugo Castillo and $150,000 for Robert Tello.

In May, a confidential FBI informant bought an AR-15 assault rifle from Tello for $300, and five hand grenades from Tello and Jose Castillo for $1,000. In June, he bought a second AR-15 assault rifle and four hand grenades for $1,500 from Jose Castillo. All of the purchases were made in Logan Heights. In June, federal authorities seized four grenades from Castillo. Since then, three more grenades have been found throughout San Diego that authorities believe Johnson made.

At Johnson’s home in Clairemont, authorities said, they found hand grenade casings, gunpowder, a bag of automatic sears, which help change the internal mechanism of a weapon from semi-automatic to automatic, and a bill of sale for six more guns from Southern California Gun, a shop where Johnson worked as a clerk.

The sales bill was initialed by “J.J.” and was to be delivered to Isador Ramirez. Authorities believe Tellos may have been purchasing the guns with Ramirez’s ID.

Federal investigators also found books on how to make explosives.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Michael E. Lasater said Thursday that the four under indictment were told that the weapons would be needed “to wax some people.”

Lasater said many of the ingredients needed for a homemade grenade are easily obtained.

In 1989, much was made of Johnson’s involvement in a group called the “Coronado White Boys,” which concerned then-Coronado Police Chief Jerry Boyd. Boyd said most members of the group, which numbered about 50, were law-abiding boys and girls, but that about eight were prepared to retaliate against outside gangs.

But many in the community, including parents of some of the youths in the group, said Boyd was blowing the matter out of proportion, and, when he attended a parents’ meeting, some joked that he might need protection after leaving the gathering.