Juan Carlos Sandoval-Rodriguez, Murder in Aid of Racketeering, Maryland 2022

MS-13 Member Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder in Aid of Racketeering

Frederick, Maryland – Juan Carlos Sandoval-Rodriguez, aka Picaro, aka El Pastor, aka Gasper, 24, of El Salvador, was sentenced to life in federal prison for a racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, attempted murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, conspiracy to commit murder in aid or racketeering, as well as related violent crimes in aid of racketeering, including three murders, connected to his participation in La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal enterprise also known as MS-13.

On Oct. 31, 2019, after a nine-day trial, a federal jury convicted Sandoval-Rodriguez of murder in aid of racketeering, and conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, in connection with a murder that occurred on March 11, 2016.

On Jan. 24, 2022, a federal jury convicted Sandoval-Rodriguez of racketeering charges, along with co-defendants Jose Joya-Parada, aka Calmado, 21; Oscar Armando Sorto-Romero, aka Lobo, 23; and Milton Portillo-Rodriguez, aka Little Gangster, aka Seco, 26, after a three-month trial. Sandoval-Rodriguez, Portillo-Rodriguez, and Sorto-Romero were also convicted of multiple counts of murder in aid of racketeering.

Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout Frederick County, Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County, Maryland. Sandoval-Rodriguez, Portillo-Rodriguez, and Joya-Parada were members of the Fulton Locos Salvatruchas (FLS) clique. Co-defendant Sorto-Romero was part of the Parque Vista Locos Salvatruchas (PVLS) clique.

Evidence at both trials established that between 2015 and 2017, Sandoval-Rodriguez and his co-defendants engaged in a pattern of racketeering, drug trafficking, extortion, murder, and brutal acts of violence against suspected rivals of the gang in an effort to increase MS-13’s power in the Frederick County, Montgomery County, and Anne Arundel County areas of Maryland.

Evidence presented at the 2019 trial established that Sandoval-Rodriguez participated in the murder of a suspected rival gang member on March 11, 2016. During this murder, Sandoval-Rodriguez lured the victim to Quiet Waters Park in Annapolis, Maryland, with the intention of killing him. Surveillance video from a nearby laundromat captured Sandoval-Rodriguez and the victim walking toward Quiet Waters Park on the evening of the murder. Once the victim arrived at the park, members of the gang struck him in the head with a branch or stick, and the assailants, including Sandoval-Rodriguez, repeatedly stabbed the victim with a knife, killing him.

While Sandoval-Rodriguez and other members of the gang committed the murder, other MS-13 members and associates stood watch outside the park to ensure no one entered or left the park, and to watch for police, so that the gang could complete the murder. Sandoval-Rodriguez cut his finger on the knife that he used to stab the victim. After the victim was killed, MS-13 members and associates buried him in a shallow grave inside the park, but Sandoval-Rodriguez did not bury the body because of the cut on his finger and fear that he would leave evidence at the scene. The body was not recovered until Aug. 28, 2017, when it was exhumed by law enforcement. After his arrest, Sandoval-Rodriguez’s writings about the murder as well as additional MS-13 paraphernalia was recovered among his personal belongings in jail. Sandoval-Rodriguez participated in the murder to raise his status in the gang and to assert the authority of MS-13 in Annapolis.

Trial evidence related to Sandoval-Rodriguez at his second trial focused on his participation in several murders, including that of a 17-year-old victim, who was believed to be a rival gang member. Specifically, the evidence showed that on March 31, 2017, the gang lured a 17-year-old from Annapolis to Wheaton Regional Park, where they stabbed him multiple times, killing him.

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