Defendant Pleads Guilty to Violent Racketeering Conspiracy
In a shocking turn of events, Carlos Beltran-Flores, aka ‘Joker,’ age 23, of Hyattsville, Maryland, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, including murder, attempted murder, assault, extortion and robbery; and carrying, using and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence.
According to court documents, Beltran-Flores was a member of the Peajes Locos Salvatrucha clique of MS-13 from 2009 until at least 2013. During this time, he and other MS-13 members committed crimes to further the interests of the gang, including murder, assault, robbery, extortion by threat of violence, obstruction of justice, witness tampering, and witness retaliation.
The guilty plea was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting Special Agent in Charge Ivan Arvelo of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks; Chief J. Thomas Manger of the Montgomery County Police Department; Chief Alan Goldberg of the Takoma Park Police Department; and Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy.
Beltran-Flores admitted to participating in several violent crimes, including the assault and robbery of a victim in Hyattsville on September 3, 2010, and the murder and attempted murder of two victims in the parking lot of the former Shoppers Food Warehouse on University Boulevard in Hyattsville on January 10, 2011.
He also admitted to participating in the extortion of a fellow MS-13 gang member from March to November 2011, using Facebook and text messaging to relay the extortion demands to the victim.
Beltran-Flores is set to be sentenced on May 1, 2024, and faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: Violent Crime|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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