The last defendant of the six La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang members who were convicted at two separate federal trials was sentenced today. The six defendants were sentenced for racketeering conspiracy, narcotics conspiracy, and offenses related to the murders of four men in 2019.
According to court documents and evidence presented in the two trials, the six defendants were members of MS-13’s Sitios Locos Salvatrucha clique (STLS), which operated in Northern Virginia and elsewhere for years. From at least 2017 through 2020, MS-13 members and associates regularly traveled to and from Long Island, New York, for the purpose of obtaining cocaine from Marvin Menjivar Gutierrez, STLS’s leader in the United States. From there, MS-13 members would transport the cocaine to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area to be sold in nightclubs and bars. STLS used the proceeds of their cocaine sales to purchase more cocaine to sell, buy weapons, and support other MS-13 members in the United States and El Salvador.
“These defendants—members of the violent MS-13 gang—sold drugs to fuel the gang’s business, surveilled and tracked rival gang members, and even murdered innocent victims, all to increase the grip that MS-13 had on the community,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “With today’s sentencing, we are holding these defendants accountable for the havoc they wreaked. The Criminal Division, along with our federal and local law enforcement partners, is committed to combating violent criminal organizations that victimize our communities.”
In spring 2019, Menjivar and Melvin Canales Saldana, STLS’s second-in-command in the United States, ordered members to begin committing murders so that junior members could rise in rank within MS-13 and amplify STLS’s prestige and control. In June 2019, three MS-13 members—including Cristian Arevalo Arias and Carlos Turcios Villatoro—lured Victim 1 and Victim 2 to a wooded area where they murdered them by shooting and stabbing. The MS-13 members believed Victim 1 belonged to a rival gang; they then murdered Victim 2 to avoid leaving any witnesses.
“MS-13 represents a cycle of death in our society that cannot be tolerated and must be eradicated. MS-13 sells poisons that destroy communities, families, and lives,” said U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber for the Eastern District of Virginia. “This is why federal, state, and local law enforcement employ a coordinated approach to dismantle these organizations.”
In August 2019, Canales ordered an MS-13 member to provide Arevalo with a firearm so that Arevalo could find and kill any rival gang member. Arevalo travelled with others to Woodbridge hoping to encounter a rival but instead encountered Victim 3 whom Arevalo shot dead.
In September 2019 Jairo Aguilera Sagastizado traveled from New York with two other MS-13 members looking for a rival gang member but ended up murdering Victim 4 who was walking home from a convenience store.
“Today’s sentencing is another example of the FBI’s relentless commitment,” said Executive Assistant Director Timothy Langan of the FBI's Criminal Branch. “If you engage in racketeering... we will not stop until you face consequences.”
“Members of MS-13 spread fear... but their control is not limitless,” said Assistant Director David Sundberg of FBI Washington Field Office.
Multiple MS-13 members pleaded guilty prior to trial:
Marvin Menjivar Gutierrez: Multiple life sentences
Melvin Canales Saldana: Multiple life sentences
Cristian Arevalo Arias: Multiple life sentences
Carlos Turcios Villatoro: Multiple life sentences
Jairo Aguilera Sagastizado: Multiple life sentences
Manilester Andrade Rivas: Fourteen years
The case was investigated by multiple agencies including FBI Prince William County Police Department Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office among others prosecuted by Deputy Chief Matthew Hoff Assistant U.S Attorney John Blanchard former Assistant U.S Attorney Maureen Cain as part of OCDETF Operation City Bridges targeting high-level drug traffickers gangs transnational criminal organizations.