MS-13 Gang Member From Landover Sentenced To Life In Prison On Murder, Drug, Other Charges

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — El Salvadorian national Junior Noe Alvarado-Requeno, also known as “Insolente” and “Trankilo,” 24, of Landover, has been sentenced to life in federal prison for conspiring to participate in La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal enterprise also known as MS-13.

Alvarado-Requeno was also sentenced for three counts each of murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, as well as for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and cocaine. He was convicted of those charges Nov. 23, 2021, after a four-week trial.

“The brutal and tragic violence perpetrated by Alvarado-Requeno and his fellow MS-13 gang members is totally unacceptable. (The) sentence sends the message that the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland and our local and state partners are working together to remove these violent international gang members to keep our communities safe from the threat of MS-13,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron.

Members of the Sailors Clique of MS-13, including Alvarado-Requeno, "spread fear in local communities using violence and extortion,” said Steven M. D’Antuono, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office.

“He directly participated in the brutal murder of a teenager and directed and planned four other homicides with his MS-13 co-conspirators. With (this) sentence, he will no longer be able to commit—or direct others to engage in—brutal, senseless violence against members of our communities," D'Antuono said.

MS-13 is a transnational 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 Frederick County, Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County and Montgomery County in Maryland.

According to the evidence presented at the four-week trial, between 2015 and 2018, Alvarado-Requeno and his co-defendant, Miguel Angel Corea Diaz, a/k/a “Reaper,” 41, of Long Branch, New Jersey, controlled and operated the Sailors Locos Salvatruchos Westside (S.L.S.W. or “Sailors”) Clique through a pattern of racketeering activity, which included murder, extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering and witness tampering.

Evidence showed that the gang ran a protection scheme in and around its home base in Langley Park, Maryland, and extorted local businesses by charging them “rent” for the privilege of operating in MS-13 “territory.” The gang also trafficked in illegal drugs, including marijuana, heroin and cocaine. A large share of the proceeds of the gang’s illegal activities were sent to gang leadership in El Salvador to further promote the goals of the gang, using structured transactions and intermediaries to avoid law enforcement scrutiny, it was revealed in court.

The Sailors Clique committed acts of violence against suspected rival gang members, as well as against its own membership for breaking gang rules, it was divulged in court. The evidence showed that in June 2016, Alvarado-Requeno ordered members of the Sailors Clique to murder a suspected rival in the woods at Malcolm King Park in Gaithersburg. Luring him with the promise of sex with a female MS-13 associate, the gang members ambushed the teenaged victim and stabbed him 153 times. In fact, the victim did not belong to any gang, according to court documents.

In March 2017, a member of the Sailors Clique who was hiding from law enforcement in the Lynchburg, Virginia, area had a dispute with a local high school student over marijuana. In response, Alvarado-Requeno and Corea-Diaz organized a squad of MS-13 members to drive down to Lynchburg and murder the high schooler. The gang members kidnapped the student from his front lawn and cut his hand off before killing him. After the murder, the Alvarado-Requeno and Corea Diaz helped to hide and protect the killers who escaped the scene from law enforcement.

In December 2016, Alvarado-Requeno directed and participated in the murder of a 14-year-old member of MS-13 who was suspected of talking to the police. The boy’s remains were discovered 18 months later in the woods outside of Germantown, Maryland.

The jury made special findings beyond a reasonable doubt that as part of the racketeering conspiracy Alvarado-Requeno murdered two other individuals and as part of the racketeering conspiracy Corea Diaz conspired to murder a third person, according to court documents.

On April 1, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Miguel Angel Corea Diaz to life in prison. Corea Diaz was convicted of the racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, cocaine and heroin; and possession with intent to distribute heroin.