Manuel “Snuffy” Quintero: Franco Murder, Swifty Blue Conspiracy, Mafia Ties

Manuel “Snuffy” Quintero is a 49-year-old reputed Mexican Mafia member charged in two Los Angeles County cases: the 2010 murder of Downey nightclub owner Hermilio Franco, and a 2025 conspiracy to murder Paramount rapper Nelson Abrego, who performs as Swifty Blue. He has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and remains held in Men’s Central Jail.¹

The Downey Home Invasion That Killed Hermilio Franco

Shortly before 3 a.m. on November 3, 2010, two armed men broke into the Downey home of Hermilio Franco, a 53-year-old originally from Jalisco, Mexico. Franco owned El Farallon, a Lynwood nightclub known for narcocorrido performers, and a concert and rodeo venue in El Monte.²

Franco kept a chrome-plated .45-caliber pistol under his mattress. When the intruders entered the bedroom, a shootout erupted. Franco was killed. One of the intruders, Larry Trujillo, was shot and paralyzed. The second intruder fled through the back door and remained unidentified for close to fifteen years.³

Prosecutors say the break-in was payback for an $80,000 drug debt Quintero believed Franco owed him. According to testimony at an October 2025 preliminary hearing, Quintero and Trujillo made six reconnaissance trips to the neighborhood in a rented minivan and brought zip ties, duct tape, screwdrivers, a laser-sighted semi-automatic, a .357 revolver, and a Taser. Quintero allegedly used the Taser on Franco during the attack, then fled to Tijuana with an abdominal gunshot wound and had surgery there.³

How Investigators Tied Quintero to the Killing

At his arrest in 2010, Trujillo told a deputy only that his accomplice went by “Spooky.”² In 2014, as part of a plea deal that put him at 25 years to life, Trujillo gave investigators the full name Manuel “Snuffy” Quintero, his birth date, and a description of a tribal band tattoo on his arm, saying the two had met through a prison contact.³

Even with that identification in hand, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office did not charge Quintero with Franco’s murder until July 2025, more than a decade later. No public explanation has been offered for the gap. Retired detective Robert Del Rio testified about Trujillo’s cooperation at the preliminary hearing.³

Reporting also noted an unusual thread: Quintero, who grew up in Paramount, was said to have had a prior relationship with Franco’s daughter Adriana, which she denied, acknowledging only mutual friends. Adriana was in the house during the shooting and testified to seeing a man run from the scene.²

The Swifty Blue Murder Conspiracy

On June 18, 2025, prosecutors charged 19 people in a conspiracy to murder rapper Nelson Abrego, known as Swifty Blue. The complaint alleges Quintero, acting as a Mexican Mafia shot caller, ordered the hit in 2022 after Abrego crossed the syndicate.⁴

Prosecutors say the plot moved across the county jail system, state prisons, and streets in Paramount and Compton, with instructions passed through recorded jail calls and TikTok messages.⁵ In November 2023, while Abrego was held in Men’s Central Jail, he was beaten and stabbed at 5:50 a.m. during a shower release. Prosecutors named Adrian “Slick” Bueno, Andrew “Largo” Shinaia, and Jude “Crazy” Valle as the attackers, and said Michael “Weasel” Ortiz blocked a nearby camera. Abrego survived and was released from custody days later.⁴

Among the co-defendants, Giuseppe “Clever” Leyva, 34, is described as Quintero’s subordinate. On New Year’s Eve 2022, Leyva allegedly told an informant he had told gang members in Paramount, Compton, and downtown Los Angeles to attack Abrego “on sight,” and later posted on TikTok that “With Swifty his career is done.” By March 2024, prosecutors say, Leyva was coordinating with another defendant on the rapper’s location, which led to an armed visit to his home.⁴ The investigation was led by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Bureau and the FBI’s San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Task Force.⁵

His Alleged Role in the Mexican Mafia

Law enforcement identifies Quintero as a full member of the Mexican Mafia, a prison-based syndicate of roughly 140 men that exerts control over Southern California’s Latino street gangs. He began claiming Paramount Varrio while in the California Youth Authority and was brought into the organization by Michael “Mosca” Torres. By 2020, law enforcement reports classified him as a “full-blown” member.¹

In a 2017 intercepted conference call, Torres said Quintero was responsible for collecting money from Paramount’s gangs. Prosecutors also allege Quintero built ties to a reputed Sinaloa cartel operative and to Armenian organized crime figures to run extortion and illegal gambling operations.¹ Testimony from a San Diego County grand jury indicated Quintero and Trujillo worked together on other crimes, including a kidnapping in which Trujillo tortured a victim for failing to drain a bank account, telling him he was “taking it to Snuffy.”²

Quintero’s defense team has denied the organized crime allegations, calling him an entrepreneur and a “devoted father” and saying there is no credible evidence linking him to either Franco’s killing or the Mexican Mafia.³

Prior Criminal Record

Court records show Quintero has served state prison terms for assault, car theft, firearm possession, manufacturing methamphetamine, and false imprisonment.³ In October 2003, he was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute crack cocaine.⁶

After the 2010 Downey shooting, a private investigator tracked him to Guadalajara in 2011. He was arrested in Tijuana in 2012 for jumping bail on an Orange County drug case, served less than two years in state prison for manufacturing methamphetamine and false imprisonment, and was released in 2014.³

Where the Cases Stand

Quintero was arrested on June 18, 2025, on the Swifty Blue conspiracy charges.⁴ In July 2025, while he was already in custody, prosecutors charged him with Franco’s murder.³ Judge Tomson T. Ong of Los Angeles County Superior Court is presiding over the murder case, with attorney Corey J. Robins appointed for the defense.⁷ As of October 2025, the murder case was still in the preliminary hearing stage, with hearings scheduled to continue.

1
Los Angeles Times. Manuel Quintero Snuffy Mexican Mafia
2
Los Angeles Times. Reputed Mexican Mafia Member Charged in Murder of Nightclub Owner
3
Los Angeles Times. Manuel Quintero Snuffy Murder
4
Los Angeles Times. Mexican Mafia Murder Conspiracy Charges
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FBI. Nineteen Members or Associates of the Mexican Mafia Prison Gang Charged in Murder Conspiracy Targeting a Well-Known Rapper
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GovInfo. USCOURTS-caed-1-02-cr-05379-2
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CaseMine. Manuel Quintero Case