MS-13 Gang Members Sentenced On Murder, Conspiracy Charges

SILVER SPRING, MD — Two MS-13 gang members were sentenced to 25 years in prison for their roles in a racketeering conspiracy that included the murder of a rival gang associate.

Edwin Ruiz Urrutia — also known as "Sylvestre," 21, of Silver Spring — and Francisco Ramirez Pena — also known as "Tepo" and "Advertencia," 25, of Edgewater — were sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to racketeering charges, prosecutors said. A third member — Darvin Guerra Zacarias, also known as "Chapin," 27, of Silver Spring — was also sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his role in the conspiracy to murder the female victim.

"These sentences show that a membership in MS-13 usually ends where it should — behind bars for decades in a federal prison," said Jennifer Boone, special agent in charge of the Baltimore Division of the FBI, in a news release. "At the FBI, we are committed to staying in the fight until this plague is purged from our communities."

According to their plea agreements, Ramirez Pena, Ruiz Urrutia, and Guerra Zacarias conspired with other MS-13 members and associates to engage in racketeering activity and conspiracies to commit murder, extortion, and drug trafficking.

Prosecutors say "MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence both to maintain membership and discipline within the gang." Participation in criminal activity, particularly in violent acts directed at rival gangs, increases the status of MS-13 and the members involved in the crimes, they added.

In June 2017, MS-13 gang members believed that the victim, who authorities referred to as "Victim 18," was an associate of the rival 18th Street gang.

Prosecutors said Guerra-Zacarias was present when Ruiz Urrutia, Ramirez Pena, and other gang members were talking about how to lure out "Victim 18" to murder her.

On the day of the murder, Guerra-Zacarias picked up MS-13 gang members, along with a female associate who was responsible for luring "Victim 18," and drove them to meet with the victim, officials said.

Once "Victim 18" was lured into Guerra-Zacarias' car, the gang members drove to another location and subdued her. Prosecutors said "Victim 18" was then driven to a secluded area in Crownsville, where Ruiz Urrutia and other gang members had dug a grave and gathered weapons.

"Victim 18 started screaming and gang members subdued her by choking her. Ramirez Pena, Ruiz Urrutia and other MS-13 gang members then dragged her to the site of the grave and all present attacked her with a machete and knives until she was dead. Victim 18's body was then dismembered and buried in the grave," the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.

In September 2017, investigators recovered the woman's body from a clandestine grave and sent the remains to a medical examiner. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide and said she suffered numerous blunt and sharp force traumas. According to prosecutors, her head had been severed and her body had been cut into several pieces.

"Federal, state, and local law enforcement will use all the tools at our disposal to arrest and prosecute MS-13 gang members who prey on our neighbors," said U.S. Attorney Robert K. Hur.

Anyone with information about MS-13's criminal activities is asked to call the FBI at 1-866-STP-MS13 or HSI at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.