Facing Gang Charges in the Inland Empire?

You are booked and held until you post bail or see a judge. If you stay in custody, you must be brought to court for arraignment, usually within 48 hours, not counting Sundays and holidays. At arraignment, the judge reads the charges, takes your plea and rules on bail or release. When a gang allegation is filed, prosecutors often ask for higher bail and strict release conditions, such as staying away from certain people or places. The prosecutor can also add a gang allegation later, even if it was not in the first complaint. The sooner we’re involved, the sooner we can start working on your case.

There are two main kinds. Active participation in a criminal street gang (PC 186.22(a)) is a separate crime: actively taking part in a gang, knowing its members engage in a pattern of criminal gang activity, and willfully helping felony conduct by its members. You don’t have to be a formal member. A gang enhancement (PC 186.22(b)) is an allegation added to another felony, claiming you committed it for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with a gang, intending to help gang members’ criminal conduct. A misdemeanor charged with a gang allegation can be punished as a felony (PC 186.22(d)).

Since January 1, 2022, Assembly Bill 333 has made gang allegations harder to prove. It requires:

• A gang: an organized group of three or more people, with listed crimes as a primary activity, whose members collectively engage in a pattern of gang crimes
• A pattern: at least two qualifying crimes, on separate occasions or by two or more members, the last within three years of the one before it and of the current offense
• Those crimes commonly benefited the gang in a way that was more than reputational
• The current offense can’t be used to prove the pattern
• For the enhancement, a benefit to the gang beyond reputation, such as money, retaliation, targeting a rival or silencing a witness

It depends on the charges. Active participation (PC 186.22(a)) can be a misdemeanor with up to one year in county jail, or a felony with 16 months, two or three years in prison. A gang enhancement adds a consecutive term: two, three or four years for most felonies, five years for a serious felony and 10 years for a violent felony (PC 186.22(b)). Some crimes, such as carjacking or home invasion robbery, become life sentences. If another participant used or fired a gun, firearm enhancements of 10, 20 or 25 years to life can apply to you even if you never had the gun, once the gang allegation is proved (PC 12022.53(e)). Judges can dismiss them in some cases.

In most cases, yes. Any felony that would also be a felony violation of the gang statute is a serious felony under the Three Strikes law (PC 1192.7(c)(28)), so a true gang enhancement or a felony active participation conviction can turn even a non-strike felony, such as possessing a gun, into a strike (People v. Briceno (2004) 34 Cal.4th 451). It stays on your record for future cases. A gang conviction can also require you to register with local police within 10 days of release (PC 186.30). An older gang conviction counts as a strike only if the prosecution proves it meets today’s stricter AB 333 rules (People v. Fletcher (2025) 18 Cal.5th 576).

Yes, if you ask. Since 2022, the defense can require that a gang enhancement be tried in a separate phase, so the jury first decides whether you committed the crime without hearing the gang evidence (PC 1109). An active participation charge must be tried separately from counts that don’t otherwise require gang evidence. This matters because gang evidence, such as photos, tattoos, field interview cards and expert opinions, can unfairly sway jurors on the main charge. A gang expert also can’t simply repeat secondhand, case-specific statements as true (People v. Sanchez (2016) 63 Cal.4th 665).

CalGang is a shared database police use to list suspected gang members and associates. Before adding you to a shared gang database, a local agency generally must notify you in writing. You, a minor’s parent, or a lawyer can ask an agency whether you are listed, and the agency that listed you must usually tell you why. You can contest the listing in writing. If the agency refuses or doesn’t answer within 30 days, you have 90 days to ask a court to order you removed (PC 186.34, 186.35). A gang injunction is a civil court order limiting what named people can do in an area, and violating one is a misdemeanor (PC 166(a)(9)).

No. Politely decline to answer questions and ask for a lawyer. In gang cases, officers often ask about nicknames, tattoos, friends and neighborhoods, and your answers can be used to claim gang membership. Be careful with social media posts, photos and videos, which prosecutors often use as gang evidence. Don’t contact the alleged victim or witnesses, and don’t discuss the case by text, email, social media or jail phone calls. All of it can be recorded and used.

It depends on the evidence. Common defenses include:

• You were only present, or you were not the person involved
• The group doesn’t meet the legal definition of a criminal street gang
• The prosecution can’t prove the required pattern of qualifying crimes
• Any benefit to the gang was only reputational
• The gang expert relies on hearsay, or rap lyrics and other creative work are being used unfairly (Evidence Code 352.2)
• Racial bias or unequal charging, which the Racial Justice Act prohibits (PC 745)
• Evidence found in an illegal search

We review the police report, field interview cards, social media evidence, the gang expert’s sources, body camera video and witness statements to find the weaknesses in the case.

Sometimes. Depending on the evidence, a gang allegation may be dismissed, found not true or dropped as part of a plea, even when the underlying charge goes forward. A judge can strike the extra punishment for a gang enhancement in an unusual case (PC 186.22(h)), and a felony active participation charge can sometimes be reduced to a misdemeanor (PC 17(b)). If you complete probation, you may be able to have the conviction dismissed under PC 1203.4, but a gang-related strike can still be used in a later case. You can also ask to be removed from a gang database (PC 186.34). For non-citizens, a gang conviction can carry serious immigration consequences, so talk to us before entering any plea.