An illegal immigrant from Mexico was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for lighting and throwing a Molotov cocktail at law enforcement during an anti-immigration enforcement riot in Paramount, California in June of last year.
Emiliano Garduño Gálvez, 23, of Paramount, was sentenced by United States District Judge André Birotte Jr.
Gálvez pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of possession of an unregistered destructive device and one count of obstructing, impeding, or interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder.
He has been in federal custody since June 2025.
“This defendant’s reckless behavior threatened the lives and safety of law enforcement officers and that of a lawful protester,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “My office remains steadfast in its efforts to prosecute and punish those who commit acts of violence against others.”
On June 7, 2025, in Paramount, Gálvez attended a riot that hurt people and damaged federal property. The protesters were angry about the government enforcing federal immigration laws in Los Angeles County.
For hours, rioters throw rocks and cinder blocks at federal and local law enforcement. They shot fireworks off and lit things on fire to block the roads, so law enforcement declared the protest an unlawful assembly. Rioters also looted Home Depot.
Hiding behind a stone wall, Gálvez lit and threw a Molotov cocktail towards Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies who were on duty in Paramount during the civil disorder. Gálvez admitted he threw the Molotov cocktail intending to obstruct, interfere with, and impede the sheriff’s deputies who were lawfully engaged in their official duties.
The Molotov cocktail Gálvez threw landed in a grassy area near the foot of a protestor in the crowd and approximately 15 feet from LASD deputies. Gálvez had never registered this Molotov cocktail, nor any destructive device, with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. He then fled the area.
“[Gálvez] threw an incendiary device capable of killing someone,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. “And his destructive device came far closer to injuring a civilian holding a sign, as opposed to [Gálvez’s] intended target – the sheriff’s deputies.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this matter with the assistance of the FBI and LASD.
Assistant United States Attorney Jenna W. Long of the National Security Division prosecuted this case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.