Twenty-Two MS-13 Members Sentenced for Violent Crimes

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Atlanta, Georgia - Twenty-two members of the international gang Mara Salvatrucha-13 (MS-13) have now been sentenced, many to life or decades in prison, for their roles in violent crimes in the Atlanta area between 2005 and 2010, including murders, attempted murders and armed robberies.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and Acting U.S. Attorney John Horn of the Northern District of Georgia made the announcement.

On July 15, 2013, a jury convicted the following defendants:

According to the evidence introduced at trial, Alvarado-Linares and Alfaro-Granados, along with another gang member, killed Lal Ko in October 2006.  Ko was a fellow MS-13 member, but Alvarado-Linares, one of the gang leaders, thought that Ko was cooperating with police and ordered his murder. 

The trial evidence showed that in December 2006, when another MS-13 gang member wanted to quit the gang, Alvarado-Linares and Alfaro-Granados ordered him to kill a rival gang member as a condition of leaving MS-13.  Following orders, on Christmas Eve 2006, that gang member shot at a vehicle traveling on an interstate highway that he believed contained rival gang members.  A 20-year-old passenger in the vehicle was killed.  

The evidence at trial also demonstrated that on New Year’s Eve 2006, Alvarado-Linares shot two members of a rival gang.

Finally, the evidence introduced at trial showed that on Aug. 5, 2007, Reyna-Ozuna, who was a gang leader at the time, gave Escobar a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun and instructed him to shoot a teenager with whom Escobar had an altercation earlier that day.  

On Nov. 21, 2013, a jury convicted the following defendants:

According to the evidence presented at trial, on April 13, 2007, Argueta, along with other gang members, attempted to rob Arpolonio Rios-Jarquin, who the defendants suspected was drug dealer.  After discovering that Rios-Jarquin was armed, Argueta and fellow MS-13 members engaged in a shootout with Rios-Jarquin, during which Rios-Jarquin was killed. 

The trial evidence showed that, on Oct. 24, 2007, Argueta and several other MS-13 members shot at rival gang members, hitting one in the back and another in the hip and arm.

The evidence also demonstrated that, while at a nightclub in DeKalb County, Georgia, on July 20, 2008, Espinoza and other members of MS-13 engaged in a fight with persons they suspected were members of a rival gang.  During the fight, Espinoza shot a man in the stomach. 

Just two days later, according to evidence introduced at trial, Espinoza and four other MS-13 members identified a victim to rob for beer money.  When the victim resisted, Espinoza shot him through the head.

On Oct. 7, 2014, a jury convicted the following defendant:

According to the evidence introduced at trial, on Dec. 15, 2008, Marroquin-Lopez, who was one of the gang leaders, and two other gang members shot at the owner of an apartment that the defendants were attempting to rob. 

The trial evidence also showed that on March 13, 2009, Marroquin-Lopez fought two suspected gang members and shot at one of them.

Finally, the evidence at trial demonstrated that Marroquin-Lopez often distributed baggies of cocaine to fellow MS-13 members at meetings and instructed them to sell the cocaine at clubs.

The following defendants previously pleaded guilty and have been sentenced:

These cases were investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Gwinnett County, Georgia, Police Department, the DeKalb County Police Department, the Norcross Police Department, the Chamblee Police Department, and the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office.

These cases were prosecuted by Trial Attorney Joseph Wheatley of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Paul R. Jones and Kim S. Dammers of the Northern District of Georgia.