Federal Way man receives over 60-year sentence for 2018 murders

Published 3:30 pm Thursday, November 6, 2025

A Federal Way man convicted of a total of three murders was handed his latest sentence, adding about 60 years to his stay in prison that was previously set to end in 2032.

On Nov. 3, Francisco Montero, 27, whose last known address was in Federal Way, received a sentence of 727 months in prison — almost 60 and a half years — for the 2018 fatal shootings of 13-year-old Elizabeth Juarez and 19-year-old Eveona Cortez. Montero is also currently serving a 180-month sentence — 15 years — for second-degree murder stemming from the fatal shooting of Erasmo Plata on April 12, 2017, for which he was charged in April 2018 and pleaded guilty in 2019.

For the deaths of Juarez and Cortez, Montero was charged with two counts of first-degree murder on June 28, 2021. On Sept 23, 2025, Montero was found guilty by a jury of two counts of first-degree murder.

Prosecutors requested that Montero serve the maximum sentence for each first-degree murder conviction for a total of 814 months — nearly 68 years — in prison. Montero’s defense did not request a certain number of months in its sentence recommendation, but in documents, it argued that he was 19 years old when the crimes occurred, and he was indoctrinated into gang culture.

Documents state that Montero’s defense said that he already faced a near-life sentence, even if the bottom of the sentencing range was imposed, so anything beyond that would be without legitimate purpose and contrary to the balance required by the Sentencing Reform Act. According to documents, the lowest sentence Montero could have received was 641 months — about 53 years.

Accounting for the 60-year sentence and the additional seven years he has left to serve of his 180-month sentence for the April 2017 murder conviction, Montero could get out of prison in about 2092, when he will be about 94 years old.

Montero is also facing five felony federal charges, including bribery, drug possession with intent to distribute and conspiracy. According to the indictment, Mosses Ramos, 39, of Milton, a former jail guard, between March and May 2023, allegedly accepted bribes to bring methamphetamine and fentanyl into the jail for the benefit of inmates Michael Anthony Barquet and Montero. According to court documents, Ramos reportedly received approximately $5,000 to smuggle drugs into the jail on or about March 23-24, 2023.

Details of the case

Documents state that Montero is part of a gang that goes by the name United Lokotes (UL), and on April 11, 2017, a member of UL, Arturo Marcial Alvarez, was shot and killed in Federal Way by rival Varrio Locos (VL) gang members. Documents state that Montero and other UL members then killed Erasmo Plata on April 12, 2017, in Burien in retaliation for Alvarez’s death, and later that day shot at another VL member in Seattle.

Documents state that then on March 28, 2018, after Juarez and Cortez were on Facebook live showing graffiti, at an apartment complex in Burien, the pair, along with multiple other witnesses, were shot at. This shooting resulted in the deaths of Juarez and Cortez. Documents state that Juarez and Cortez were associated with UL rival gangs.

Documents state that Facebook messages showed that someone was messaging one of Montero’s gang associates before the shooting, telling them that at the location of the fatal shooting were rival gang members. Ten minutes later, the fatal shootings occurred. After the killings, Montero took videos of himself at Juarez and Cortez’s memorial, saying that was what happens when a “real g” is messed with. Documents state that Montero later responded with expletives against Juarez when shown a picture of her.

According to documents, Montero was further tied to the crime through 9mm casings that were found at the scene of the crime, which had his fingerprints on them. The day after Juarez and Cortez were killed, Montero was sent an article about their deaths, to which he sent texts laughing. Prosecutors said that Montero shot and killed Juarez and Cortez simply because he felt disrespected because they were creating offensive gang graffiti.