MS-13 East Coast Head Pleads Guilty To Racketeering

BOSTON, MA – A leader of MS-13's east coast operations pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Boston to racketeering conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney's office said. Jose Adan Martinez Castro, 28, known as "Chucky," was one of 61 suspected affiliates of MS-13 identified during a three-year investigation in Massachusetts. Castro pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, commonly known as a RICO conspiracy.

A Salvadoran national and former resident of Richmond, VA, Castro was recorded running a meeting of MS-13's East Coast Program in December of 2015 and subsequently identified as the sect's leader, authorities said. MS-13 leaders imprisoned in El Salvador oversee individual branches, or "cliques," that are grouped into "programs" throughout the United States, according to the USAO.

During the Dec. 13 meeting in Richmond, Castro and others discussed sending money to El Salvador to support MS-13, working together to increase the gang's strength and control and violently retaliating against anyone who informed on them, the USAO said.

All 61 alleged affiliates of MS-13 have been indicted; Castro is the 25th defendant to be convicted. He faces up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence.

Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 26.

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