In the United States, the MS-13 Gang faced justice as 18 of its members were handed sentences that summed up to a staggering 425 years. These individuals were found guilty of various heinous crimes such as murder, racketeering, and drug trafficking.
According to the US Department of Justice, the Thompson Place Locos Salvatrucha arm of the gang in Nashville, Tennessee, included the group for the past ten years. MS-13 was established by Salvadoran migrants who fled the civil war to the US in 1980. The Department of Justice has confirmed that its members are highly organized and participate in “profitable illicit activities.”
MS-13 uses kidnapping, extortion, and murder, among other illegal crimes, to preserve and safeguard its control, territory, and earnings. This Thursday, the 18 guilty members received a variety of penalties after a multi-year investigation and prosecution.
The punishments varied from a year to life. Members’ ages ranged from 23 to 44. Multiple incidents led to prosecution, the majority of which included the murders of accused rival gang members. According to the DOJ, Jose Pineda-Caceres, 25, murdered someone believed to be a rival gang member by luring him to a field and killing him multiple times.
The individuals who have received sentences from the gang are:
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- 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
