Three members of the transnational criminal organization Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, will serve decades in prison for a series of heinous gangland killings in the Houston metro area.
A task force of local authorities, county officials, and federal prosecutors arrested each of the defendants, who were all El Salvadoran nationals, in September 2018. The crimes in question date back to 2017, including the dismemberment of a teenage girl.
On Monday, U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei announced that the trio would be sentenced to 50 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts in the massive racketeering case against them.
“Here, defendants committed a series of murders, bludgeoning, butchering, and strangling their victims with sadistic glee,” the prosecutor stated in a press release announcing the plea deal. “These are people with no remorse or sympathy. When it comes to eradicating these gangs, the United States cannot afford to give up or fail. As the facts of this case demonstrate, the stakes are too high.
Investigators identified three gang members as “high-level” and, as a result, slated for the highest sentences: Walter Antonio Chicas-Garcia a.k.a. Mejia, 28, Wilson Jose Ventura-Mejia a.k.a. Discreto, 29, and Miguel Angel Aguilar-Ochoa a.k.a. Darki, 40. Marlon Miranda-Moran, also known as Chinki, 26, has recently agreed to serve 35 years in federal prison for his role in the conspiracy.
Four other co-defendants, Luis Ernesto Carbajal-Peraza, a.k.a. Destino, 33, Edgardo Martinez-Rodriguez, a.k.a. Largo, 35, Carlos Alexi Garcia-Gongora, a.k.a. Garcia, 27, and Wilman Rivas-Guido, a.k.a. Inquieto, 29, pleaded guilty in the same case in August.
Prosecutors catalogued a litany of brutal crimes in court documents, including murders committed with machetes, baseball bats, and even strangulations with their bare hands. The defendants then took and sent photographic evidence of their butchery back home, attempting to terrorize and intimidate the victims’ families.
According to prosecutors, the majority of these crimes were committed as part of rituals aimed at achieving and gaining esteem within the MS-13 organization.
“The defendants committed these unthinkable acts to maintain their status in a gang that spread fear in local neighborhoods and targeted those brave enough to cooperate with law enforcement,” DOJ spokesperson Matthew R. Galeotti stated in a separate press release. “Today’s guilty pleas send a powerful message that the Justice Department will aggressively pursue and hold accountable MS-13 members who use violence and murder to terrorize our communities.”
Investigators in the Houston area discovered a criminal enterprise that included extortion, drug trafficking, robbery, and obstruction of justice – specifically witness tampering. Throughout the months of those specific schemes, MS-13 leaders in El Salvador would provide their lieutenants with objectives, such as ordering and approving specific murders, authorities say. Occasionally, the gang’s leadership would listen in on phone calls while victims were tortured and killed.
In June 2018, Victor Castro-Martinez, 25, was hacked to pieces at Cullinan Park in Sugar Land, a large city and suburb of Houston. According to the Houston Chronicle, the victim was identified as an informant the day he died. Castro-Martinez’s remains were discovered with recording equipment attached. According to reports, four MS-13 members were present and/or involved in the murder.
Other murder victims were chosen because they were thought to be members of rival gangs or simply “working against MS-13’s interests,” according to federal prosecutors.
According to prosecutors, Martinez-Rodriguez, Garcia-Gongora, and Rivas-Guido agreed to 45-50 years in prison, while Carbajal-Peraza is expected to serve 40-45. Each defendant is scheduled to be sentenced later this year.
Several other alleged gang members have been charged in connection with the Houston crime wave in a number of indictments.
