Two Maryland MS-13 enforcers, Juan Alberto Ortiz-Orellana, aka “Chele” and “Furia,” 28, of District Heights, and Minor Perez-Chach, aka “Minor Chach-Perez,” “Little Bad,” and “Bryant Sacarias,” 25, of Hyattsville, are locked up for life after being sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt. Judge Roger W. Titus handed down the maximum penalty following their May 20, 2016 convictions on federal racketeering charges that included murder, conspiracy, and firearm offenses tied to the gang’s violent reign across Prince George’s, Montgomery, and Frederick Counties.
The convictions stem from a years-long campaign of terror orchestrated by MS-13 cliques operating in suburban Maryland. Ortiz-Orellana, a member of the MS-13 Sailors Locotes Salvatrucha Westside Clique, conspired with co-defendant Jorge Moreno-Aguilar, 23, of District Heights, to execute a rival linked to the 18th Street gang. In January 2013, they hunted their target using photos pulled from Facebook. On March 12, 2013, they ambushed him outside his Capitol Heights home and shot him dead in cold blood.
Perez-Chach, tied to the MS-13 Langley Park Salvatrucha (LPS) Clique, carried out another brutal attack on February 23, 2013. Mistaking an innocent man for a cooperating witness in prior MS-13 cases, Perez-Chach stalked him to his home in Greenbelt. Alongside another gang member wielding a machete, Perez-Chach stabbed the victim to death. The murder was retaliation for perceived betrayal—except the victim had never testified. The hit was a fatal case of mistaken identity, but no less calculated.
Ortiz-Orellana was additionally convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, underscoring the gang’s mandate to eliminate threats and rivals. MS-13, a transnational gang with roots in El Salvador, enforces strict loyalty through violence. Members are required to attack and kill so-called ‘chavalas’—rivals—whenever possible. The Maryland branches of the gang engaged in extortion, witness intimidation, robberies, and brutal assaults as part of their criminal enterprise from at least 2009 through October 2014.
Jorge Moreno-Aguilar, who carried out the Capitol Heights shooting with Ortiz-Orellana, was convicted on identical charges—conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, murder in aid of racketeering, and conspiracy to commit murder. He awaits sentencing on January 31, 2017. Fourteen of the 15 defendants originally charged in the sweeping federal investigation have now been convicted. One remains a fugitive, wanted for his role in the conspiracy.
U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell, ICE HSI Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson, Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski, Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger, State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks, and Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy all announced the sentences. Rosenstein praised the multi-agency task force effort that dismantled the MS-13 network, calling the life sentences a victory for justice in communities terrorized by gang violence.
Related Federal Cases
- MS-13 Hitmen Get Life for Charlotte Murders · North Carolina
- BGF Leader Mark Bazemore Gets Life for Murder, Drugs · Maryland
- Cruz Flores ‘Bruja’ Gets Life for MS-13 Throat-Slitting Murder · Maryland
- MS-13 Killer Flaco Gets Life for Beltsville Murder · Maryland
- Miguel Angel Manjivar Gets Life for MS-13 Murders · Maryland
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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