A native of El Salvador and a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, a.k.a. Maras Salvatrucha, will never walk free again after being convicted of 6 murders and murder conspiracies.
A U.S. district judge handed Elmer De Jesus Alas Candray, aka German Alexander Ramirez Lopez, Buky, and Desquiciado, six life sentences for the brutal murders of rival gang members and associates believed to have betrayed the gang.
"This case is a stark reminder of the violence and disregard for human life inherent in MS-13's criminal enterprise. Their deadly activities, from flooding our streets with dangerous narcotics to the brutal murders by which they attempt to impose their presence, will not go unchecked," said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Jessica D. Aber, reported Newsweek.
On Aug. 25, 2018, according to prosecutors, the 27-year-old Alas Candray and other members of the gang, with directive and approval from the MS-13 leadership in El Salvador, beat and strangled an associate of MS-13's Directos Locos Salvatrucha clique, simply known as K.A.C. Then, they dismembered his body and put the remains in a thrash bag before burying it in a wooded area in Bedford, Massachusetts. As a result, Alas Candray moved up the leadership ladder in the organization.
Over a year later, the defendant, again with other members of the gang, ambushed a group of individuals who met to drink in a wooded area in Reston, Virginia, that the defendant’s crew believed to be on their territory. Armed with a 9mm firearm, a .45 caliber firearm, and two machetes, Alas Candray and his members slashed and killed an individual named J.L.G.M.
On Sept. 17, 2020, the defendant and other members brutally killed a young woman known as I.J.P.G along Colts Neck Road in Reston, Virginia. Alas, Candray believed the woman was affiliated with a rival group after she disparaged the gang on social media. As a result, the victim was lured to the crime scene, where the defendant and others took turns to shoot her in the face.
Alas Candray continued his violent acts over the next two years, involving four other brutal homicides which led a federal jury to convict the defendant of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, five counts of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, five counts of murder in aid of racketeering, and three counts of use of a firearm during a crime of violence causing death, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The judge ordered Alas Candray to serve all six life terms concurrently.
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