MS-13’s ‘Muerto’ Pleads Guilty to Cocaine Ring and Stabbing

Jose Hernandez-Miguel, aka “Muerto,” 31, of Chelsea, admitted in federal court Monday, Nov. 28, 2016, to trying to murder a rival gang member with a knife near Highland Park in 2015 — a brutal assault tied directly to his role in the violent MS-13 street gang. The stabbing was not a random act, but part of a calculated campaign of terror enforced by La Mara Salvatrucha’s Eastside Loco Salvatrucha (ESLS) clique, of which Hernandez-Miguel was a full member.

Hernandez-Miguel pleaded guilty to three major federal charges: conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity (a/k/a racketeering conspiracy), conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine, and conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base. The charges stem from a sprawling three-year investigation that led to a January 2016 superseding indictment naming 56 alleged MS-13 leaders, members, and associates across Massachusetts — later expanded to 61 defendants in an August 2016 update.

Court documents lay bare the inner workings of MS-13’s operations in the Boston area, detailing how Hernandez-Miguel participated in violent initiation rituals known as “jumping in,” where recruits are beaten by multiple gang members to earn their status. He also paid regular dues that helped fund MS-13 activities both in Massachusetts and in El Salvador, reinforcing the gang’s transnational grip. His criminal reach extended beyond violence — he admitted to conspiring to move at least five kilograms of cocaine and supplying crack and powder cocaine to a cooperating witness.

U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV set sentencing for Feb. 21, 2017. The racketeering conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. The cocaine trafficking charge involving five kilos or more brings a mandatory minimum of 10 years, up to life in prison, at least five years of supervised release, and a $10 million fine. The separate cocaine and cocaine base distribution conspiracy allows for up to 20 years, three years supervised release, and a $1 million fine. While federal sentences often fall below the maximum, the severity of the charges signals a hardline crackdown.

Hernandez-Miguel is the seventh defendant to plead guilty in the sweeping MS-13 takedown, which has exposed deep-rooted gang activity across the state. Federal and local law enforcement agencies have united in calling the case a major disruption to MS-13’s operations in New England. The coordinated investigation involved the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Massachusetts State Police, and multiple local sheriffs and police chiefs from Chelsea, Boston, Everett, Lynn, Revere, and Somerville.

The announcement was made jointly by United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Field Division; Matthew Etre, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Richard D. McKeon, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Thomas Turco, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections; Essex County Sheriff Frank G. Cousins, Jr.; Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Tompkins; Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; Middlesex County District Attorney Marian T. Ryan; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett; Boston Police Commissioner William Evans; Chief Brian A. Kyes of the Chelsea Police Department; Chief Steven A. Mazzie of the Everett Police Department; Chief Kevin F. Coppinger of the Lynn Police Department; Chief Joseph Cafarelli of the Revere Police Department; and Chief David R. Fallon of the Somerville Police Department.