Maryland MS-13 Leader Pleads Guilty To Cocaine Sales, Shooting

SEVERN, MD — A leader of the violent MS-13 gang from Severn admitted in court that he distributed guns to a network across Maryland for criminal activity. Jose Augustin Salmeron-Larios, 25, pleaded guilty Friday to a conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13; attempted murder in aid of racketeering and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

MS-13 is a gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from El Salvador, with members operating throughout Maryland, including Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and Frederick County. Branches or “cliques” of MS-13 often work together to engage in criminal activity and to avoid detection by law enforcement, prosecutors said.

According to his plea agreement, from at least January 2015 through September 2016, Salmeron-Larios was a member of one clique and served as the MS-13 Maryland Program Leader. Salmeron-Larios admitted to participating in numerous acts in furtherance of the racketeering conspiracy.

For example, Salmeron-Larios admitted that on Nov. 7, 2015, he and other MS-13 members went to Hyattsville with plans to murder someone who was believed to be a member of the 18th Street Gang. Two MS-13 co-conspirators lured the victim to a location where Salmeron-Larios and two MS-13 co-conspirators, all armed with firearms, waited for the victim to arrive and one of Salmeron-Larios’s associated fired his handgun into a vehicle. The victim was struck in the face by one of the gunshots; he survived the shooting, but lost an eye, sustained loss of hand and leg function, and was permanently disfigured. Prosecutors say Salmeron-Larios participated in the shooting in order to gain entrance to, maintain, and increase his position in MS-13.

“MS-13 is an organization ruthlessly committed to living up to its motto — ‘Kill, Steal, Rape, Control,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian Benczkowski in a news release. “Fortunately, today’s plea demonstrates that the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners are committed to relentlessly pursuing the gang and its leadership.”

Salmeron-Larios admitted that in January 2016, he traveled to Florida and obtained firearms, which were distributed to MS-13 members for use in Maryland. In addition, during the time of the conspiracy, Salmeron-Larios possessed and distributed controlled substances, including cocaine. On June 8 and June 9, 2016, Salmeron-Larios discussed an attack upon suspected rival gang members and provided a loaded gun to be used against rival gang members in the area of 23rd Avenue in Langley Park “by the towers.”

“Salmeron-Larios’s arrest and conviction have dealt a significant blow to MS-13 in Maryland,” said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur of Maryland. “As the founder and leader of the Maryland Program, Salmeron-Larios organized and coordinated violence, drug trafficking and extortion among six cliques operating in the Maryland area. His arrest helped to dismantle the Maryland Program and the effort to create a permanent structure under which these cliques worked.”

Salmeron-Larios faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise; a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for attempted murder in aid of racketeering; and a mandatory 10 years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, and up to life in prison, for using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis has scheduled sentencing for Salmeron-Larios for Dec. 7. Salmeron-Larios remains detained pending sentencing.

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