Five M-13 members in Los Angeles County have been convicted of six murders within a two-year period to gain standing with the gang.
California M-13 gang members Walter Chavez Larin, 26, Edwin Martinez, 28, Roberto Alejandro Corado Ortiz, 30, Bryan Alexander Rosales Arias, 28, and Erick Eduardo Rosales Arias, 27, were found guilty and convicted of three counts of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act, and nine counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR) murder.
"The horrific violence in this case underscores the urgency of destroying (the gang) and putting its depraved members behind bars. Under President Trump, (the gang) can no longer unleash terror on the American people with impunity: we will eradicate this foreign terrorist organization and secure justice for its victims," said U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, reported FOX 11.
According to prosecutors, in June 2017, Chavez and other members had been involved in the stabbing death of another member who claimed to be a leader in the gang. The victim was taken to Angeles National Forest, where he was hacked to death with a machete. Four months later, a man who was alleged to be a rival by Corado and Bryan Rosales was lured to his death by two women at the Angeles National Forest. The victim was strangled, beaten with a bat, stabbed, and thrown off a cliff.
In July 2018, another man, alleged to be a rival gang member, was lured to a scenic spot in Malibu Hills. While there, Corado shot the victim in the back of the head, with others taking turns shooting him, before he was thrown down a hill. Six months later, another victim who was mistaken for a rival gang member was shot to death by Martinez.
On Jan. 13, 2019, prosecutors established that Martinez and Chavez had killed a gang member who had violated a gang rule due to his addiction to methamphetamine. The next day, Martinez shot a homeless man to death because he had a tattoo he believed belonged to a rival gang.
“Cases such as this one serve as a reminder that MS-13 has been designated as a foreign terrorist organization. The defendants in this case carried out barbaric attacks on their victims to simply enhance their ranking within the gang. I’m proud of the hard work that went into this trial by agents and prosecutors, which resulted in a guilty verdict and a measure of justice for the victims, and which will effectively remove murderers and terrorists from Los Angeles communities,” said Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office Akil Davis, according to the Department of Justice.
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