MS-13 Member Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Involvement in Rico Conspiracy

A member of La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, was sentenced today to 25 years in prison and five years of supervised release for his participation in a racketeering enterprise, Acting Assistant Attorney General Rita M. Glavin of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Edward M. Yarbrough of the Middle District of Tennessee announced.

Manuel Marquez, a/k/a ‘Morro,’ was sentenced in Nashville, Tenn., by Chief Judge Todd J. Campbell of the Middle District of Tennessee.

At his plea hearing on Dec. 17, 2007, Marquez admitted that he and others involved in the MS-13 gang conspired to participate in a pattern of racketeering activity in the Nashville metropolitan area that included murder, attempted murder and witness tampering.

Marquez admitted that on April 12, 2006, he and other MS-13 gang members fired handguns at a rival gang member and his girlfriend. The rival gang member was struck several times and sustained permanent physical injuries.

Thirteen other defendants were previously sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to the RICO conspiracy. Walter Hernandez was sentenced on March 31, 2008, to 324 months in prison. On Dec. 3 and Dec. 7, 2007, respectively, Henry Garballo-Vasquez and Jose Alfaro were sentenced to 240 months in prison. On Nov. 20, 2007, Geovanni Pena received a sentence of 235 months in prison. On Sept. 8, 2008, Ericka Cortez received a sentence of 46 months in prison. On Sept. 16, 2008, Escolastico Serrano received a sentence of 45 years in prison. On Sept. 25, 2008, Ronald Fuentes received a life prison sentence. On Oct. 3, 2008, Ernesto Mendez-Tovar received a sentence of 13 years in prison. On Oct. 6, 2008, Eliseo Iglesias received a sentence of 210 months in prison. On Oct. 7, 2008, David Alexander Gonzalez received a sentence of 235 months in prison. On Nov. 10, 2008, Oscar Serrano received a sentence of life plus 20 years in prison, to be served consecutively. On Nov. 14, 2008, Omar Hirbin Gomez was sentenced to 14 years in prison. And on Nov. 19, 2008, Francisco Dago Mendez was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

According to the indictment, the MS-13 gang is a violent international criminal organization composed primarily of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from El Salvador.

The purpose of the racketeering enterprise was to preserve and protect the power, territory and profits of the MS-13 enterprise through violent assault, murder, threats of violence and intimidation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney [missing information].

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