Left to right: Walter Antonio Chicas-Garcia a.k.a. Mejia, Wilson Jose Ventura-Mejia a.k.a. Discreto, and Miguel Angel Aguilar-Ochoa a.k.a. Darki (U.S. Department of Justice/Houston Police Department).
Three members of the international gang Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13, have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms due to a series of brutal gang-related murders in the Houston area.
The individuals in question, all nationals of El Salvador, were apprehended in September 2018 through a collaborative effort involving local, county, and federal authorities. Their crimes, which include the gruesome murder and dismemberment of a teenage girl, date back to 2017.
On Monday, U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei revealed that each of the men will serve 50 years in federal prison after admitting guilt to various charges in the extensive racketeering case against them.
“Here, defendants carried out a series of murders – bludgeoning, butchering, and strangling their victims with sadistic glee,” the prosecutor noted in a press release about the plea deal. “These are individuals devoid of remorse or compassion. In the fight against these gangs, we must neither relent nor fail. This case demonstrates the high stakes involved.”
The trio identified by investigators as “high-level” members and handed the most severe sentences are Walter Antonio Chicas-Garcia a.k.a. Mejia, 28, Wilson Jose Ventura-Mejia a.k.a. Discreto, 29, and Miguel Angel Aguilar-Ochoa a.k.a. Darki, 40. Marlon Miranda-Moran a.k.a. Chinki, 26, has also agreed to serve 35 years in federal prison for his part in the illicit activities.
In August, four other co-defendants – Luis Ernesto Carbajal-Peraza, a.k.a. Destino, 33, Edgardo Martinez-Rodriguez a.k.a. Largo, 35, Carlos Alexi Garcia-Gongora a.k.a. Garcia, 27, and Wilman Rivas-Guido a.k.a. Inquieto, 29 – pleaded guilty in the same case.
In court documents, prosecutors cataloged a litany of brutal crimes – murders carried out with machetes, baseball bats, and even using their bare hands to strangle. Then, the defendants took and sent photographic evidence of their butchery back home – in an effort to terrorize and intimidate the family members of the slain.
Those crimes, prosecutors said, were largely committed as part of rituals aimed at attaining and gaining esteem in the MS-13 ranks.
“The defendants committed these unthinkable acts to maintain their status in a gang that spread fear in local neighborhoods and targeted those brave enough to cooperate with law enforcement,” DOJ spokesperson Matthew R. Galeotti added in a separate press release. “Today”s guilty pleas send a powerful message that the Justice Department will aggressively pursue and hold accountable MS-13 members who use violence and murder to terrorize our communities.”
The criminal enterprise identified by investigators in the Houston area also included extortion, drug trafficking, robbery, and obstruction of justice – by way of witness tampering. Throughout the months of those specific schemes, MS-13 leaders in El Salvador would provide their lieutenants with objectives – including ordering and approving specific murders, authorities say. Sometimes, the gang’s leadership would listen in during phone calls as victims were tortured and killed.
In June 2018, Victor Castro-Martinez, 25, was hacked to pieces at Cullinan Park in nearby Sugar Land – a large city and suburb of Houston. On the day of his death, the victim had been identified as an informant, then-Houston Police chief Art Acevedo announced at the time, according to the Houston Chronicle. Castro-Martinez’s remains were found with recording equipment affixed. Four members of MS-13 were said to be present and/or involved in that particular murder.
Other murder targets were chosen because they were believed to be members of rival gangs or just generally “working against MS-13’s interests,” according to federal prosecutors.
According to prosecutors, Martinez-Rodriguez, Garcia-Gongora, and Rivas-Guido agreed to a term of 45-50 years in prison, while Carbajal-Peraza is expected to receive 40-45 years behind bars. Each of the defendants are slated to be sentenced later this year.
Several other alleged members of the gang have been charged in connection with the Houston crime wave in a variety of indictments.
