With murder conspiracy trial imminent, alleged gang member disappears

Three days before he was scheduled to appear in Pomona Superior Court on murder conspiracy charges last month, Darryl Castrejon disappeared.

The reputed Mexican Mafia member managed to post $1 million bail after he and three other men were arrested and charged in 2005 with conspiring to kill Frankie Buelna, 61, another Mexican Mafia member.

For more than three years, Castrejon appeared in Pomona Superior Court each time he was required.

But on Jan. 27, he failed to appear.

His wife initially believed Castrejon had been arrested on Jan. 24 by federal agents, but prosecutors now say they know that's untrue.

Castrejon's defense attorney says he's had no contact with Castrejon and has no idea where he is.

His wife has also said she's not in contact with Castrejon, and has no knowledge of his whereabouts.

The 49-year-old could be dead, out of the country, out of the state, or hiding in the local area -- prosecutors say they have not been able to rule out any possibility.

"I don't know what to believe. I really don't," said Deputy District Attorney Todd Hicks, who successfully prosecuted Castrejon's three co-defendants and will prosecute Castrejon if he's found. "I don't know if he's in the state, out of the country. I don't know."

Castrejon and his three co-defendants wanted to kill Buelna because they believed he was conducting gang activities in Pomona neighborhoods where he did not have gang permission, prosecutors allege.

Police were listening in on the conspirators' phone conversations, and stopped the plot before it was carried out.

Buelna was shot and killed in 2006 at Characters Sports Bar in downtown Pomona.

That case remains unsolved, and authorities say they do not know whether the killing is connected to the earlier murder plot.

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Castrejon's three co-conspirators -- Julio Ponce Felix Jr., 35, Arthur Garcia, 38, and Ricardo Polanco, 26 -- were each convicted by a jury last year and sentenced to prison terms of 85 years to life, 55 years to life and 50 years to life, respectively.

Castrejon, the alleged shot-caller in the plot, was set to face trial this month and also faced a life prison term if convicted.

"Trial was forthcoming, imminent," Hicks said.

Hicks said that on Jan. 23, a parole officer told him he heard Castrejon had been arrested for a cold-case murder in San Bernardino County.

Hicks said he called Castrejon's defense attorney, Albert Perez Jr., to try to verify the tip. Perez told him he had heard nothing about it, both men said in interviews.

About an hour after Hicks contacted Perez on Jan. 23, Perez said he called Castrejon's home to see if he had been taken into custody.

Perez said Castrejon answered the phone, and said he was at home in Fontana with his wife.

The next day, Castrejon disappeared.

According to his wife, Castrejon drove to to his father-in-law's home in Fontana, then went missing.

Castrejon left his car and cell phone at his father-in-law's home, Hicks said.

According to Perez, Castrejon's wife initially told him she believed Castrejon had been arrested as part of a federal indictment.

Hicks said Castrejon is not in federal custody, nor has he been notified that Castrejon has been arrested anywhere else.

In an interview Friday, Perez said he still knew nothing about Castrejon's whereabouts. He said Castrejon's wife told him she knew nothing as well.

"We've been looking for him without much success," Hicks said, adding that there's "no evidence of where he is -- dead or otherwise. We're still looking."

The week Castrejon failed to appear in Pomona, a judge revoked his bail bond and issued a new no-bail warrant for his arrest.

Castrejon also failed to appear in court last week on a drug case in San Bernardino County.

In order to secure his $1 million bond in Pomona, Castrejon put up his daughter's home and his father-in-law's home as collateral, Hicks said.

Those properties will likely be seized by Castrejon's bonding agency if Castrejon fled the area to avoid facing trial.