Elmer De Jesus Alas Candray, Multiple Murders, Virginia 2022

Alexandria, VA - In a shocking turn of events, Elmer De Jesus Alas Candray, a 27-year-old Salvadoran national and member of the Uniones Locos Salvatrucha (ULS) clique of the violent Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) gang, was sentenced to six concurrent life prison sentences and additional terms of years for his involvement in six murders and multiple murder conspiracies.

According to court documents, Alas Candray was involved in the murder of K.A.C., an associate of MS-13's Directos Locos Salvatrucha clique, on August 25, 2018, in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The group dismembered K.A.C.'s body and buried the remains in a wooded area near New Bedford.

Alas Candray's involvement in the gang's criminal enterprise continued in June 2019, when he and others conspired to murder individuals who frequently gathered to drink in a wooded area in the clique's perceived territory in Reston. On June 23, 2019, Alas Candray and other members and associates armed themselves with a 9mm firearm, a .45 caliber firearm, and two machetes and traveled to the Hunters Woods area of Reston. The group murdered an individual, identified as J.L.G.M., shooting him and slashing him with a machete.

The following year, Alas Candray was involved in the murder of I.J.P.G., a young woman, on September 17, 2020, in Reston. The group lured I.J.P.G. to Colts Neck Road under false pretenses and killed her because they believed she was associated with a rival gang and had disparaged MS-13 on social media. A co-conspirator exchanged messages with I.J.P.G. via Snapchat, pretending to be a member of MS-13's rival gang.

Alas Candray's crimes did not stop there. In March 2021, he and other MS-13 members and associates conspired to murder an individual, identified as S.A.T.L., because they believed he was a member of a rival gang. On March 11, 2021, Alas Candray and his co-conspirators went to an apartment complex on Winterthur Court in Reston where Alas Candray fatally shot S.A.T.L.

Other victims of Alas Candray's crimes include R.A.P.S. and F.R.A.R., who were murdered on May 30, 2022, and June 18, 2022, respectively. The group used coded language to communicate with each other and warned MS-13 members and associates that law enforcement had pictures of them.

Alas Candray was sentenced to six concurrent life prison sentences and additional terms of years for his involvement in these crimes. The exact terms of his sentence were not specified in the press release.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/ms-13-member-sentenced-life-prison-murders-virginia-and-massachusetts