MS-13 Members Convicted For Brutal Murder

Six MS-13 gang members were convicted Monday for their roles in a disturbing kidnapping and murder and extortion scheme in Northern Virginia. Ten gang members—three from the Alexandria area of Fairfax County and seven from Leesburg—in all had been charged in the kidnapping and and murder of Otero-Henriquez, 18, of Leesburg and a separate extortion scheme. Aside from the six convicted gang members, the remaining four pleaded guilty before trial.

According to prosecutors, the gang members believed the victim was part of the rival 18th Street gang. On May 21, 2016, the gang members lured Otero-Henriquez into a car, saying they were going to a party but instead driving to a quarry at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. At the quarry, the group restrained and killed Otero-Henriquez by stabbing him over 50 times and beating him.

After dumping his body in a ditch, they went to one of the member's homes to burn their clothes and destroy other evidence. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Dublas Aristides Lazo of Leesburg and Lelis Ezequiel Tremino-Tobar and Daniel Oswaldo Flores-Maravilla of Alexandria face mandatory life in prison sentences for their roles in kidnapping and murdering Otero-Henriquez. Andres Alexander Velasquez-Guevara also faces life in prison for a role in the kidnapping.

“This horrendous kidnapping and murder was a senseless and inhumane act committed by MS-13 members,” said Andrew Vale, assistant director in charge of the FBI Washington Field Office. “Today's verdict sends a clear message that the FBI, along with our local, state and other federal law enforcement agencies, will hold violent gang members and murderers fully accountable for their actions."

In a separate incident, the FBI caught three of the MS-13 members in an extortion scheme. Court records indicate Juan Carlos Guadron-Rodriguez of Alexandria and Wilmar Javier Viera-Gonzalez and Miguel Zelaya-Gomez of Leesburg, threatened a person to get extortion payments between January 2016 and April 2016, After contacting law enforcement, the victim worked with the FBI to secretly record Guadron-Rodriguez and Zelaya-Gomez taking extortion payments in March and April 2016.

Here are the charges and sentences the ten gang members face (if not already sentenced).

Lelis Ezequiel Tremino-Tobar, 21, Alexandria: Mandatory life
Charges: Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping; Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping and Murder in Aid of Racketeering; Kidnapping Resulting in Death

Carlos Jose Benitez Pereira, 22, Alexandria: Mandatory life
Charges: Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping; Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping and Murder in Aid of Racketeering; Kidnapping Resulting in Death

Daniel Oswaldo Flores-Maravilla, 20, Alexandria: Mandatory life
Charges: Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping; Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping and Murder in Aid of Racketeering; Kidnapping Resulting in Death

Dublas Aristides Lazo, 28, Leesburg: Mandatory life
Charges: Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping; Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping and Murder in Aid of Racketeering; Kidnapping Resulting in Death

Andres Alexander Velasquez-Guevara, 22, Leesburg: Maximum life
Charges: Conspiracy to Commit Kidnapping

Shannon Marie Sanchez, 36, Leesburg: Maximum 15 years on April 27
Charges: Accessory After the Fact

Manuel Antonio Centeno, 34, Leesburg: Mandatory life
Charges: Kidnapping Resulting in Death

Juan Carlos Guadron-Rodriguez, 23, Leesburg: Maximum 25 years
Charges: Conspiracy to Commit Extortion; Use of Interstate Facilities in Aid of Extortion

Miguel Zelaya-Gomez, 20, Leesburg: Life on Dec. 7, 2016
Charges: Conspiracy to Commit Extortion; Kidnapping Resulting in Death

Wilmar Javier Viera-Gonzalez, 24, Leesburg: Mandatory life on March 23
Charges: Conspiracy to Commit Extortion; Kidnapping Resulting in Death

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