6 California men plead guilty to violence against CHP officers during Los Angeles immigration protests

Six men have pleaded guilty in federal court for acts of violence against California Highway Patrol officers. They were accused of throwing rocks, fireworks and other debris during an anti-immigration enforcement protest last year.

Prosecutors said that on the evening of June 8, 2025, a group of protestors downtown Los Angeles at the Main Street overpass of the 101 Freeway targeted law enforcement officers, essentially trapping them under the freeway overpass while throwing burning objects at them.

Three men pleaded guilty on Wednesday, while three others entered their guilty pleas earlier in the week.

Adam Charles Palermo, 40, of Rampart Village; Ismael Vega, 41, of Westlake; and Yachua Mauricio Flores, 23, of Lincoln Heights were part of a group of protestors who lit cardboard and vegetation on fire, as well as fireworks, and dropped them from the freeway overpass, targeting a CHP vehicle, according to prosecutors. The vehicle caught fire. Flores also poured a liquid on the flames, igniting them further.

Palermo pleaded guilty to one felony count of assaulting, resisting, and impeding persons assisting federal officers and employees with a deadly or dangerous weapon. He faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison.

Vega and Flores each pleaded guilty to one felony count of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder. Both face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

Balton Montion, 25, LA County resident at the time, Ronald Alexis Coreas, 23, of Westlake and Junior Roldan, 27, of Hollywood, threw rocks at law enforcement officers who attempted to clear the freeway overpass.

Coreas and Roldan each pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of simple assault on a person assisting a federal officer. Each faces a statutory maximum of one year in federal prison.

Montion pleaded guilty to one felony count of obstructing, impeding, and interfering with law enforcement during a civil disorder. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

Palermo has been in federal custody since August 2025. The other defendants remain free on bond.

United States District Judge John F. Walter scheduled sentencing hearings in the coming months for these defendants

Another defendant, Jesus Gonzalez Hernandez, Jr., 22, of Las Vegas, is scheduled to plead guilty on May 4 to one misdemeanor count of simple assault on a person assisting a federal officer.