Man pleads guilty in SoCal store robberies; feds say he returned after deportation

A man who federal authorities say was deported during a string of robberies — only to return and continue targeting liquor and convenience stores across Southern California — pleaded guilty to several charges Tuesday.

Jesus Soto-Parada, 26, was arrested along with his alleged accomplice, Daniel Pavon, early last year.

Soto-Parada appeared in federal court in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce and seven counts of interfering with commerce by robbery.

With his head dipped and voice low, Soto-Parada pleaded “culpable” through a Spanish interpreter as he forfeited his right to a trial.

According to a criminal complaint, Soto-Parada, a native of El Salvador, and Pavon, a Honduran national, brandished weapons to rob multiple stores for a total of $20,000 in cash and merchandise.

In January 2024, federal and local authorities began to investigate a series of armed robberies in the Orange County area. Workers at multiple stores described two subjects wearing blue surgical face masks, one of whom would control clerks with a weapon while the other ransacked the business for products and cash.

Nine of these robberies took place between January and February, days apart each time, according to a criminal indictment. In April, Soto-Parada was detained and deported by United States Border Patrol agents after a routine traffic stop in Arizona. It was the government’s third attempt to deport him since 2016, according to final removal orders and an indictment.

Sometime between April and June 2024, Soto-Parada illegally reentered the United States, reuniting with Pavon in South L.A., according to the indictment.

After their second robbery in June at a Gardena 7-Eleven, officers used a tracking device in some of the stolen cash to locate the pair 12 minutes away. As authorities searched the vehicle, they found blue surgical masks, positively identified clothing and the tracking device underneath the driver’s seat, the criminal complaint said.

Police said Soto-Parada admitted that he had robbed the store and told them that Pavon used a “black replica pistol” to threaten the clerk, according to the indictment. The 7-Eleven clerk was driven to the site of arrest and identified the two as the perpetrators, the indictment said.

Soto-Parada initially pleaded not guilty to eight counts of robbery and violations of the Hobbs Act — a federal law prohibiting the obstruction of interstate commerce through robbery, bribery or extortion.

He faces a maximum sentence of 160 years in federal prison, 20 years for each count, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Central District of California.

Soto-Parada was taken back into custody and his sentencing was set for April 5 of next year.

Pavon is currently in custody and scheduled for trial Jan. 27 in federal court.