When his friend and mentor David Barron-Corona was killed on the job, Corona said, he began to tire of the violence. But, he said, he was scared and felt trapped. That is, until his daughter was born.

Corona was recruited in 1993 by David (Popeye) Barron, an infamous hit man for the Arellano brothers, Benjamin, Ramon and Javier. He’d saved Ramon’s life the year before.

According to the indictment in the recently resolved case, Rivera worked closely with David Barron Corona, the Barrio Logan gang member turned cartel sicario who recruited other San Diego street ...