New Jersey federal jury convicts MS-13 members for RICO offenses News
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New Jersey federal jury convicts MS-13 members for RICO offenses

A grand jury in the US District Court for the District of New Jersey Wednesday convicted three El Salvadoran nationals on various Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) charges, including murder in aid of racketeering. The three mens’ crimes stem from their participation in Mara Salvatrucha, a violent international criminal racketeering enterprise commonly known as MS-13.

According to the grand jury, between September 2014 and October 2015, Juan Pablo Escalante-Melgar (“Humilde”), Elmer Cruz-Diaz (“Locote”) and Oscar Sanchez-Aguilar (“Snappy”) actively committed multiple racketeering offenses, including murder, extortion, witness tampering, and drug trafficking, on behalf of MS-13. Additionally, the jury found that on July 1, 2015, Escalante-Melgar and Sanchez-Aguilar instructed an MS-13 recruit to kill Jose Urias-Hernandez. Urias-Hernandez was a suspected rival gang member that was killed as a part of the MS-13 recruits initiation.

Acting Assistant Director Jay Greenberg of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division said, “This verdict demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to combat MS-13’s ruthless violence in America and internationally.” Greenberg added that the FBI’s commitment to end gang violence would continue beyond this case, stating, “Today we send a clear signal to others who engage in this type of gang violence that we will bring them to justice wherever they are based.”

Escalante-Melgar, Cruz-Diaz, and Sanchez-Aguilar were among ten defendants charged in this investigation against MS-13 in New Jersey. At sentencing, these three defendants will each face a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison for murder in aid of racketeering, a maximum sentence of life in prison for the offenses of racketeering conspiracy and causing death through the use of a firearm, a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, and a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of 10 years imprisonment for the offense of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

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