MS-13 Gangster Pleads To Taking Part In Murders In Massachusetts And Virginia

The Salvadoran participated in beating, shooting and dismembering victims, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

By Joseph Hosey, Patch Staff

Apr 16, 2026 11:37 am EDT

BOSTON, MA — An MS-13 gangster pleaded guilty to taking part in murders in Massachusetts and Virginia.

Franklin Antonio Amaya Paredes, 28, pleaded Wednesday to racketeering involving murder, conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving murder and murder in aid of racketeering.

Paredes, also known as Tony and Mosca, or Fly, is a Salvadoran national who was unlawfully residing in New Bedford, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a media release.

Paredes "participated in beating, shooting and dismembering victims, according to the release.

“What Franklin Antonio Amaya Paredes did to his victims was particularly heinous — so much so that, years later, the circumstances of these three murders still stand out,” Ted. E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Boston Division, said in the release.

“The sheer brutality, cruel depravity, and terror he inflicted on behalf of MS-13 demonstrates a complete disregard for human life," Docks said. "Amaya Paredes belongs behind bars, and that’s exactly where today’s conviction will keep him."

Paredes was a member of the Uniones Locos Salvatrucha, or ULS, a clique of MS-13 operating in northern Virginia, southeastern Massachusetts and elsewhere in the United States., according to the release.

"The clique was responsible for committing numerous murders and other acts of violence and distributing marijuana and cocaine in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area," the release said. "Money generated from drug sales was used for the ULS clique’s needs in the United States, to fund MS-13 activities in El Salvador, and to help incarcerated MS-13 members."

In August 2018, Paredes and other members of ULS met in New Bedford to murder an associate of MS-13’s Directos Locos Salvatrucha clique, according to the release.

"MS-13 leadership in El Salvador had approved the murder because they believed the victim had betrayed MS-13," the release said.

"They met the victim at the residence of an MS-13 member in New Bedford and after the group ate dinner, Paredes and other ULS members beat and strangled the victim to death," the release said. "Paredes and other ULS members then dismembered the victim’s body and buried the remains in a nearby wooded area. Paredes and other members of the group were promoted within MS-13’s ranks for their participation in the murder. The victim’s remains have not yet been found."

Then, in June 2019, Paredes and other members of ULS conspired to murder individuals who frequently gathered to drink in a wooded area in the clique’s perceived territory in Reston, Virginia, according to the release.

The ULS members, armed with firearms and machetes, traveled to the Hunters Woods area of Reston, the release said, where they murdered the first man they encountered by shooting him and slashing him with a machete, while Paredes and others remained in nearby cars ready to assist.

"After the murder, Paredes and other members of the group drove to a nearby hotel room and recounted the details of the murder," the release said.

In July 2020, Paredes shot and killed another man near Horseneck Road in Dartmouth, according to the release.

"Text messages showed that Paredes, who was the victim’s cousin, invited the victim to a family party where he was murdered," the release said.

"After being charged with murder by state authorities, Paredes confided that he murdered his cousin because the cousin failed to 'check in' with MS-13 leadership when he arrived in the New Bedford area from El Salvador and had done a poor job growing MS-13 in Southeastern Massachusetts," the release said. "Paredes also conspired to kill a witness to the murder while in state custody."

Paredes sentencing was scheduled for July 10.