A federal jury in the US state of New Jersey has convicted three El Salvadoran nationals of murder, racketeering and other charges as leaders of the criminal organization MS-13, the Justice Department said on Wednesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2021) A Federal jury in the US state of New Jersey has convicted three El Salvadoran nationals of murder, racketeering and other charges as leaders of the criminal organization MS-13, the Justice Department said on Wednesday.
"A federal jury convicted three El Salvadoran nationals of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges, including murder in aid of racketeering, stemming from their participation in Mara Salvatrucha, a violent international criminal racketeering enterprise commonly known as MS-13," the Justice Department said in a release.
Between September 2014 and October 2015, Juan Pablo Escalante-Melgar, 31, Elmer Cruz-Diaz, 33 and Oscar Sanchez-Aguilar, 25, committed multiple racketeering offenses, including murder, extortion, witness tampering and drug trafficking, the release said.
Evidence presented at trial showed that in June or July 2015, Escalante-Melgar and Sanchez-Aguilar instructed an MS-13 member and an MS-13 recruit to kill a suspected rival gang member so that the MS-13 recruit could become a full member of MS-13, the release added.
On July 1, 2015, Jose Urias-Hernandez, then 19 years old, was shot and killed execution-style with a single shot to the back of his head as he entered his apartment building on the instructions of Escalante-Melgar and Sanchez-Aguilar, according to evidence presented at the trial, according to the release.
