By ,
Published October 12, 2017
Eight MS-13 gang members in the notorious crew's "Sailors Clique" faction participated in a violent racketeering conspiracy in and around Maryland, engaging in a terrifying campaign of murder, drug trafficking and extortion, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
The men were named in a superseding indictment returned last month by a federal jury, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's office. The indictment alleged the eight men were members or associates of the MS-13 gang with ties to El Salvador.
Branches of the gang were known to exist and function throughout Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, Md., prosecutors said.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND STUDENT ATTACKED WITH BASEBALL BAT
According to the indictment, crimes committed included the planning and carrying out of killings, extortion of business owners and trafficking in guns, marijuana and cocaine. It added the killings included a slaying last March in Bedford County, Va.
The attorney’s office identified the eight men in custody as:
Alvarado-Requeno was specifically named as ordering the killing of a person believed to be part of a rival gang in June 2016 in Gaithersburg.
In July 2016, Hernandez-Guevara, Tejada-Cruz and other members of the gang planned another murder by luring the victim to a secluded place before Tejada-Cruz tried to shoot the person. Tejada-Cruz and other gang members then stabbed and killed the victim, the statement said.
Contreras planned for Sailors Clique members to travel to Virginia to murder a person in Bedford County in March 2017.
MARYLAND MAN CLINGS TO SCHOOL BUS HOOD, ARRESTED AFTER STUDENT ALLEGEDLY THROWS BOTTLE
Alvarado-Requeno, Hernandez-Guevara, Tejada-Cruz, and Juarez-Vasquez could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Hernandez-Guevara and Tejada-Cruz also “face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison for conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering,” the statement said.
Orellana-Estrada, Rodriguez, Contreras and Mendez-Lopez could receive twenty years in prison for “conspiring to participate in a racketeering enterprise.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/ms-13-gang-members-charged-in-series-of-murders-drug-crimes-authorities-say