SEATTLE - After more than eight years of investigation, the last defendant of 18 La Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang members was charged with felonies stemming from a multi-year investigation led by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
The investigation involved charges for racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, attempted murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping, drug trafficking, firearms offenses, obstruction of justice and destruction of evidence.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the defendants were members and associates of the MS-13's Thompson Place Locos Salvatrucha clique, which has been operating in Nashville, Tennessee, since at least 2014.
According to court documents, defendants were sentenced as follows:
- Jorge Flores, 31, life plus 65 years in prison
- Kevin Tidwell, 30, life plus 30 years in prison
- Luis Colindres, 27, 55 years in prison
- Jose Pineda-Caceres, 25, 52 years and three months in prison
- Gerson Serrano-Ramirez, 36, 34 years in prison
- Carlos Ochoa-Martinez, 34, 30 years in prison
- Francisco Avila, 26, 30 years in prison
- Franklin Hernandez, 24, 28 years and 11 months in prison
- Jason Sandoval, 38, 20 years in prison
- Oscar Delgado-Flores, 30, 19 years and eight months in prison
- Angel Daniel-Garcia, 38, 13 years and nine months in prison
- Bryan Paredes, 27, 10 years in prison
- Jose Calderon, 24, 10 years in prison
- Hector Venturas, 28, 12 years and seven months in prison
- Juan Melendez, 25, eight years in prison
- Franklin Pineda-Caceres, 23, seven years and six months in prison
- Sergio Alvarado-Ochoa, 30, two years and six months in prison
- Anabely Caceres, 44, time-served sentence of one year and one month
The prosecution of the MS-13 gang members was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation, which seeks to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States.
"This case should serve as warning to criminal gangs who terrorize our communities with violence and sow misery through drug trafficking; these activities will not be tolerated," said Acting Special Agent in Charge Erek Davodowich, head of DEA's Louisville Division.
According to Steven Dudley, author of the book MS-13: The Making of America's Most Notorious Gang, there are around 10,000 MS-13 members in the United States operating in 40 states. Their strongholds are Los Angeles, New York and the Washington D.C. area.
In 2022, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele (from where the gang hails) launched a state of emergency (régimen de excepción) that has given his government almost free rein in its war against gangs like the MS-13. As of October of last year, the Salvadoran government claims to have arrested 52,541 members of the MS-13 as well as 13,682 members of the Barrio 18 Sureños, and 10,741 members of the Barrio 18 Revolucionarios.
A March report by InSight Crime highlighted that the country saw a 69.2% decrease in its homicide rate compared to the previous year, clocking in at 2.4 per 100,000, the lowest in Latin America. The country had over 100 murders per 100,000 people in 2015.
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