A Salvadoran national and member of the MS-13 gang, Elmer De Jesus Alas Candray, has been sentenced to six concurrent life prison terms. This decision follows his conviction on charges related to his involvement in the gang's criminal activities, including six murders and additional murder conspiracies.
Court documents reveal that on August 25, 2018, Alas Candray met with other MS-13 members in New Bedford, Massachusetts. They were there to kill an associate from a rival clique within MS-13, identified as K.A.C., whom they believed had betrayed the gang. After dining together at a member's residence, they killed K.A.C., dismembered his body, and buried it nearby. For this act, Alas Candray and others received promotions within the gang.
In June 2019, Alas Candray conspired to murder individuals in Reston who frequented a wooded area considered part of their territory. On June 23 of that year, armed with firearms and machetes, he and other members killed J.L.G.M.
On September 17, 2020, Alas Candray participated in a plan to lure I.J.P.G., suspected of associating with a rival gang and disparaging MS-13 online. She was taken to Colts Neck Road in Reston under false pretenses and killed by co-conspirators.
March 2021 saw another conspiracy involving Alas Candray targeting S.A.T.L., believed to be part of a rival gang. He was surveilled in Fairfax County before being fatally shot by Alas Candray at an apartment complex.
On May 30, 2022, while patrolling perceived territory behind Lerner Springs at Reston Apartment Homes, Alas Candray encountered R.A.P.S. The victim was murdered using brutal methods.
Another incident occurred on June 18, 2022. F.R.A.R., accused of disrespecting MS-13 rules, was picked up from Reston and taken to Seneca Regional Park where he was beaten and stabbed before being dismembered.
Alas Candray also communicated coded messages instructing ULS members about law enforcement surveillance on August 17, 2022.
The jury found him guilty of conspiracy to participate in racketeering enterprise among other charges related to violence causing death. The announcement came from Erik S. Siebert (U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia), Sean Ryan (FBI Washington Field Office), and Kevin Davis (Fairfax County Chief of Police) after sentencing by Judge Michael S. Nachmanoff.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Blanchard, Megan Braun, and Natasha Smalky prosecuted the case as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces operation aimed at dismantling high-level criminal organizations threatening the United States.
Further information can be accessed through official websites or PACER using Case No. 1:22-cr-1789.