Gerson Serrano-Ramirez, aka Frijole, 31, an illegal alien and MS-13 gang member from El Salvador, was sentenced today to 19 years in federal prison for a brutal campaign of violence, drug distribution, and witness tampering in Nashville, Tennessee. The sentence, handed down May 16, 2019, marks the end of a violent crime spree that terrorized local businesses and targeted those who dared speak out against him.
Serrano-Ramirez was convicted by a federal jury in September 2018 on multiple charges, including using physical force to tamper with a witness, being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, illegally re-entering the United States after prior deportation, multiple counts of cocaine distribution, and additional firearms violations. The conviction followed a high-profile trial that laid bare the inner brutality of MS-13’s operations on American soil.
The violence erupted in July 2017 when an acquaintance confronted Serrano-Ramirez about disruptive behavior by him and other MS-13 members at a local nightclub. In response, Frijole lured the man to his home in the Antioch area of Nashville, where he launched a sadistic assault. He pointed an AK-47 at the victim, choked him with the rifle strap, sprayed bleach into his eyes, and attempted to suffocate him with a plastic bag over his head.
While clamping the man’s finger with pliers and keeping the assault rifle trained on him, Serrano-Ramirez issued a chilling threat: if the victim spoke of the attack, he would kill both him and his mother. The entire assault was captured on Serrano-Ramirez’s own home security system—footage later seized by federal agents during a search warrant execution.
That same raid uncovered a drug operation in full swing. Investigators recovered videos of Serrano-Ramirez packaging and selling cocaine from the residence. They seized an AK-47 assault rifle, multiple rifle magazines, 582 rounds of ammunition, body armor, and additional quantities of cocaine and marijuana, painting a clear picture of a hardened criminal embedded in both drug trafficking and gang violence.
The case was jointly investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Homeland Security Investigations—Immigration & Customs Enforcement; and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Gang Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ahmed Safeeullah and Department of Justice Trial Attorney Matthew Hoff prosecuted the case. At the conclusion of his 19-year sentence, Serrano-Ramirez will be deported from the United States.
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Key Facts
- State: Tennessee
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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