LA ‘Peace Ambassador’ known as ‘Diablo’ arrested with military-grade body armor after city paid convicted gang killer $58K

Federal agents busted a Los Angeles “Peace Ambassador” known as “Diablo” for packing illegal military-grade body armor at crime-ridden Mac Arthur Park – after city paid the convicted killer $58,000.

Michael Angel Alvarez, 41, a.k.a. “Diablo,” is an active 18th Street gang member and convicted murderer who is being paid with L.A. city taxpayer dollars for a bogus job as a Los Angeles “Peace Ambassador,” according to federal prosecutors.

Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested the violent felon Friday at blighted Mac Arthur Park after Alvarez was found to be in possession of body armor, a crime punishable by up to of five years in federal prison.

Alvarez was paid more than $58,000 last year for his work for Healing Urban Barrios, an organization that contracted with the city for its Peace Ambassador program that is run in the city’s Council District 1, which includes MacArthur Park, according to court papers.

He was convicted in 2002 for first-degree murder and sentenced to 50 years to life in state prison, but was released by the State of California after serving just 24 years’ imprisonment.

Even two dozen years of state lockdown didn’t cool out the vicious gang leader, said LA’s top federal prosecutor Bill Essayli.   

“There is no indication Alvarez has ever stopped associating with the 18th Street gang,” Essalyli said. “In fact, in jailhouse telephone call recordings of Alvarez since his release from state prison, he discussed assaulting individuals for breaking gang rules.”

LAPD officers who searched the Westlake resident’s car near MacArthur Park on May 18 discovered two Iron Armadillo body armor plates in the trunk of his vehicle, according to Essayli.

The Iron Armadillo plates are from Las Vegas and are marketed as “the highest protection level available on the civilian market.” The product is listed as a “Shooters Cut,” according to court papers, and sold on the Iron Armadillo for $159.00.

Alvarez used a handgun to shoot his victim to death in a premeditated gang hit, court papers state in reference to his murder conviction.

Healing Urban Barrios is a Lincoln Heights-based organization that contracted with the city for its Peace Ambassador program, according to court papers.

The Peace Ambassador program is described on a city website as “a new initiative to prevent violence before it starts and to support Angelenos in moments of crisis.”

Each Peace Ambassador team “consists of two unarmed workers who have lived experience in the justice or gang systems and are trained in violence prevention and trauma-informed care,” the city’s website states. 

The city agreed to pay $450,000 for “the unique services provided by Healing Urban Barrios for their services provided as Peace Ambassadors,” between June 2024 and May 2027, court documents say.

According to the agreement, the city may immediately terminate the contract if a Peace Ambassador is convicted of an “Act of Moral Turpitude,” including “crimes involving weapons.”

Healing Urban Barrios paid Alvarez a total of $58,156 in 2025.

Besides the 2002 the April 2025 felony conviction for being a prisoner in possession of a weapon.

Essayli said the Peace Ambassador program is a boondoggle.

“The hardworking taxpayers of Los Angeles deserve better than to see their money shelled out to a convicted gang murderer,” said Essayli.

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