Baltimore, Maryland - A federal grand jury returned a seventh superseding indictment Monday charging nine men in connection with a conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13.
Charged in the seven-count superseding indictment are Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno, aka “Insolente,” and “Trankilo,” 22, of Landover, Maryland; Michael Eduardo Contreras, aka “Katra,” and “Insoportable,” 24, of Silver Spring, Maryland; Luis Fernando Orellana-Estrada, aka “Pinguino,” 19, of Hyattsville, Maryland; Kevin Alexander Soriana-Hernandez, aka “Brocha,” 19, of Riverdale, Maryland; Carlos Daniel Cardenas-Banegas, aka “Perrico,” 20, of Riverdale, Maryland; Wilfredo Cardenas-Banegas, aka “Torro,” 25, of Riverdale, Maryland; Luis Arnoldo Flores-Reyes, aka “Maloso,” and “Lobo,” 37, of Arlington, Virginia; Miguel Angel Corea Diaz, aka “Reaper,” 36, of Long Branch, New Jersey, Jairo Arnaldo Jacome, aka “Abuelo,” 36, of Langley Park, Maryland.
Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur for the District of Maryland, Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBI Washington Field Office, Special Agent in Charge Gordon B. Johnson of the FBI Baltimore Field Office, Acting Special Agent in Charge Cardell T. Morant of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Baltimore Field Office, Acting Special Agent in Charge Scott Hoernke of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Washington Field Division, Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department, Chief Henry P. Stawinski III of the Prince George’s County Police Department, Interim Chief Amal Awad of the Hyattsville Police Department, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy and Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy made the announcement.
The superseding indictment alleges that from at least prior to in or about 2015 through at least in or about January 2018, the defendants, as members and associates of MS-13, engaged in a racketeering conspiracy that included extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, robbery, murder, and conspiracy to commit murder. Jacome was a member and associate of the Langley Park Salvatrucha Clique of MS-13. All other defendants were members and associates of the Sailors Clique of MS-13.
Alvarado-Requeno, Contreras, Orellana-Estrada, Soriana-Hernandez, Wilfredo Cardenas-Banegas, Carlos Cardenas-Banegas, and Flores-Reyes were charged in a previous indictment with conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise for their alleged involvement in a variety of violent acts taken by the Sailors Clique of MS-13, including multiple murders. Corea Diaz and Jacome are also charged with RICO conspiracy in the seventh superseding indictment, in which additional murders have been charged. Specifically, the indictment charges that in June 2016, Alvarado-Requeno and Contreras allegedly planned with and directed other members and associates of MS-13 to search for and murder gang rivals known as “chavalas” in and around Hyattsville, Maryland. On June 8, 2016, Alvarado-Requeno and Contreras directed lower-ranking members of MS-13 to murder two individuals who were believed to be members of the 18th Street gang. Pursuant to this plan and as directed by Alvarado-Requeno and Contreras, MS-13 members and associates stabbed the two victims to death in Hyattsville, Maryland.
The indictment further charges that, on Dec. 4, 2016, Alvarado-Requeno, Contreras, Jacome and other members and associates of MS-13 allegedly traveled to Germantown, Maryland with a machete and other weapons with the purpose of murdering an individual as punishment for his infractions against the gang. They stabbed the victim to death, but fled the area leaving the victim’s body near a creek. The next day, Jacome and other members and associates of MS-13 returned to Germantown to bury the body of the victim.
The indictment further charges that, on March 27, 2017, Contreras, Alvarado-Requeno, Flores-Reyes, and Corea-Diaz allegedly arranged for members and associates of the Sailors Clique to travel from Maryland to Lynchburg, Virginia for the purpose of murdering an individual in the Lynchburg area. Flores-Reyes provided the vehicle in which the members and associates drove and called them to provide encouragement to murder the victim. The victim was murdered that same day in Bedford County, Virginia. On March 27 and March 28, 2017, multiple individuals were arrested in connection with the murder. Contreras, Alvarado-Requeno, Flores-Reyes, and Corea-Diaz made phone calls on those dates trying to locate the individuals who had gone to Virginia to commit the murder. Two of the participants in the murder escaped from Bedford County and were hidden in Maryland by members and associates of the Sailors Clique.
In addition to the new charges in the RICO conspiracy, Alvarado-Requeno, Contreras and Jacome are charged in the superseding indictment with murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering in connection with the Dec. 4, 2016 murder. Alvarado-Requeno is also charged in the superseding indictment with murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering in connection with a Gaithersburg, Maryland murder that took place on June 16, 2016. Jacome is charged with conspiracy to interfere with interstate commerce by extortion. All defendants are in custody.
According to the superseding indictment, MS-13 is a national and international gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador. Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, Maryland.
The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
FBI Washington and Baltimore Field Offices, HSI Baltimore, DEA Washington Field Office, the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Montgomery County Police Department, the Prince George’s State’s Attorney’s Office, the Hyattsville Police Department, and the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office investigated this case. Trial Attorney Francesca Liquori of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys William D. Moomau, Catherine K. Dick and Daniel C. Gardner of the District of Maryland are prosecuting this case.
