LOS ANGELES – A 30-year-old El Monte man will be serving 17 years and six months in federal prison for crimes he committed as a member of an El Monte gang.

Christian “Bossy” Lafargo was sentenced Thursday in a Los Angeles federal court. He had pleaded guilty to several charges that include conspiracy, committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, according to a statement by Wesley Hsu, executive assistant at the United States Attorney’s Office.

He said Lafargo, who belongs to the El Monte Flores gang, participated in drug distribution, extortion and other crimes on behalf of the gang.

Lafargo beat and kicked someone in the head in 2009. Lafargo had a 9mm gun and was carrying marijuana for distribution when he committed the assault, according to Hsu.

The next year, he said Lafargo tried to kill Jose Salas because Salas had instructed another gang member to sell drugs in the same area where Lafargo was selling drugs on behalf of Mexican Mafia members.

Even while in state prison, he said LaFargo continued to participate in criminal activity on behalf of El Monte Flores and the Mexican Mafia.

LaFargo is the latest member of the El Monte gang to be sentenced.

Two years ago, a federal grand jury indicted 41 members of El Monte Flores. Federal officials said the gang conducted illegal activities out of the Boys & Girls Club of America/San Gabriel Valley Club facilities on Mountain View Road.

The indictment alleged the gang’s members and associates conspired to distribute and distributed heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs. In addition, authorities accused the gang of extorting “taxes” from vendors selling fraudulent documents at Crawford’s Plaza at Valley Boulevard and Garvey Avenue as well as from drug dealers at Crawford’s Plaza and the apartments on Klingerman Street.

El Monte Flores is a multi-generational gang created in the 1960s and is the city’s biggest gang. Like other local Latino gangs, EMF pays “taxes or tributes to La Eme or the Mexican Mafia is a gang based in prison that controls Latino gangs in Southern California.

The following EMF members sentenced were:

• Rafael Lomeli, 38, of El Monte, sentenced May 5 to 10 years and 10 months in custody

• Mark Salazar, 25, of El Monte, sentenced April 21 to five years in prison

• Enrique Lopez, 50, of El Monte, sentenced March 24 to five years and five months in custody

• Marie Gutierrez, 56, of El Monte, sentenced February 4 to two years and three months in custody

• Hiram Ramirez, 48, of El Monte, was sentenced Dec. 17, 2015 to two years and eight months in custody

Jose Salas, 38, of El Monte, pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Lafargo and another gang member after Lafargo unsuccessful’s attempt to kill him. Federal authorities said Salas will receive 15 years in prison when he gets sentenced later this year

James Gutierrez, 53, of El Monte, a Mexican Mafia member, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the RICO Act, conspiring to distribute controlled substances including methamphetamine and heroin, and conspiring to launder money. He’s also expected to get a 15-year sentence.