Thread: New F.B.I. Top Ten Fugitive MS-13 Member Wanted for Double Murder

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New Top Ten Fugitive
MS-13 Member Wanted for Double Murder

03/26/14

Juan Elias Garcia, wanted for the execution-style murder of a 19-year-old New York woman and her 2-year-old son, has been named to the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information leading directly to the arrest of Garcia, who is alleged to be a member of the violent Mara Salvatrucha gang—MS-13—and may be hiding in El Salvador.

“Garcia’s callous disregard for human life resulted in the senseless murder of a young mother and her helpless 2-year-old son,” said George Venizelos, assistant director in charge of our New York Field Office. “His appointment to the FBI’s Top Ten list illustrates not only the seriousness of his crimes but our commitment to seeking justice for his victims.”

The murders occurred in Central Islip, New York in 2010. At that time, Garcia—who is known by the nickname “Cruzito”—was 17 years old.

“MS-13 is the most violent gang here of any of the street gangs,” said Special Agent Reynaldo Tariche, who investigated the case with other members of the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force. While gang-related murders are not uncommon on Long Island, “the execution of a 2-year-old and his mother is a new low even for MS-13,” Tariche noted.

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Garcia had a romantic relationship with the 19-year-old victim, Vanessa Argueta, who had ties to the 18th Street gang and the Latin Kings, two of MS-13’s rivals. After a falling out between Argueta and Garcia, rival gang members allegedly threatened Garcia. When he relayed that information to fellow MS-13 members—that he had been threatened because of information provided by Argueta—it was decided to retaliate against her.

“They were going to kill her for disrespecting the gang,” said Special Agent James Lopez, also a member of the task force. According to gang code, Lopez explained, “it is unacceptable for MS-13 members to have girls they associate with be involved with rival gang members.”

	Top Ten By the Numbers Juan Garcia is the latest person to be placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Since it was established in 1950, 501 individuals have been named to the list, and 470 have been apprehended or located. More information about Garcia and the Top Ten list can be found by visitingwww.fbi.gov/wanted.

“Garcia was an enthusiastic murderer,” Tariche said. “He was the reason why this happened. He was the one who decided to get the gang involved. It wasn’t about a boyfriend-girlfriend dispute. This was about disrespecting the gang. And the penalty for that is death.”

On February 4, 2010, Garcia invited Argueta to dinner but instead lured her and her son into the woods.

Along with two other MS-13 members, he executed her with two shots from a handgun while her son looked on. The gun was then turned on the child. The first shot knocked him to the ground but did not kill him. The boy got up and clutched at Garcia’s leg, but another gang member shot again and killed him.

Garcia should be considered armed and dangerous. He is 5 feet 4 inches tall, weighs 125 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes. He is known to speak Spanish and English and has ties to Santa Rosa de Lima in El Salvador as well as Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, and Panama. His two co-conspirators have been convicted of murder and are awaiting sentencing. A fourth defendant charged in connection with the murders—Garcia’s MS-13 leader—has been sentenced to three terms of life in prison, plus 60 years.

We need your help: If you have any information concerning the whereabouts of Juan Elias Garcia, contact theFBI’s New York Field Office or your nearest law enforcement agency or U.S. Embassy or Consulate. You can also submit a tip online.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014...p-ten-fugitive

BTT

Suspect in NY slayings arrested in Nicaragua

AP10:20 p.m. EDT March 27, 2014

Authorities detained Juan Elias Garcia Thursday in Managua and turned him over to the FBI.

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) — Nicaraguan police have arrested an alleged MS-13 gang member who recently was added to the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list as a suspect in the 2010 killings of his 19-year-old girlfriend and her toddler son in New York state.

Police say Juan Elias Garcia was detained Thursday near the U.S. Embassy in Managua and immediately turned over to the FBI. They gave no other details about the arrest.

The 21-year-old suspect was added to the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" on Wednesday, the first MS-13 gang member to make the list.

Prosecutors allege the El Salvador native lured Vanessa Argueta and her 2-year-old son to the woods of Central Islip, N.Y. in February 2010 where two other gang members shot them to death.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/w...anted/6987943/

Juan Garcia, among FBI's most wanted, admits double murder, prosecutor says

Originally published: March 31, 2014 6:17 AM
Updated: March 31, 2014 9:31 PM
By ROBERT E. KESSLER robert.kessler@newsday.com


Juan Garcia leaving Suffolk County jail in Riverhead on his way to arraignment in Central Islip Monday, March 31, 2014. Garcia, a Long Island gang member sought in the execution-style murders of his 19-year-old former girlfriend and her toddler son, was caught Thursday in Nicaragua, FBI officials said. (Credit: John Roca)

A member of the MS-13 street gang who was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for a day, has confessed to the slayings of his former girlfriend and her 2-year-old son, a federal prosecutor said Monday.

Eastern District federal prosecutor John Durham disclosed Juan Garcia's confession to the 2010 killings of Vanessa Argueta, 19, and son Diego Torres, at Garcia's arraignment in federal District Court in Central Islip.

Garcia, speaking through a Spanish interpreter, pleaded not guilty to a seven-count indictment that included murder, conspiracy, discharge of a firearm during crimes of violence and causing deaths through the use of a firearm. If convicted, he faces life in prison.

The plea, common in the initial phase of a felony case, drew gasps of "oh" or "no" from some among the two dozen relatives and friends of Argueta and her son in the courtroom. Most wore large buttons with a picture of the young mother and her toddler son.

Garcia's mother, an uncle and two other relatives, who had flown up from their native El Salvador for the hearing, had no comments.

U.S. District Judge Joseph Bianco ordered Garcia held without bail as a flight risk and a danger to the community after prosecutor Durham argued during the brief hearing that the FBI agents had obtained a signed confession from Garcia and that the government also had other "overwhelming evidence" against him.

Garcia surrendered on Thursday to FBI agents at a fast-food restaurant in Managua, Nicaragua, where he was working, a day after he was added to the FBI's top-10 list, sources have said.

The bureau had offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest.

Members of the FBI's Long Island Gang Task Force had convinced members of Garcia's family to have him surrender, sources said. Law enforcement officials had argued that bounty hunters and leaders of MS-13 might harm Garcia's family members to locate him for the reward.

The sources said the family members would share in the reward after the task force's expense in tracking Garcia down and flying him back to Long Island were deducted. The sources did not say how much money the family would get.

Garcia, who had been a fugitive for four years since the killings in Central Islip in February 2010, was living in the Managua area with a girlfriend and their 2-year-old daughter, the sources said. But he often traveled back to his native El Salvador to see his family, the sources said.

After the hearing, Oscar Argueta, Vanessa's father and Diego's grandfather, said, "I have her in my heart . . . We need justice . . . life in prison for him."

Garcia's court-appointed defense attorney, Barry Rhodes of Manhattan, also declined to comment after the hearing, as did Durham and the other prosecutor in the case, Raymond Tierney.

Three other Long Island members of MS-13 have been convicted in federal court in Central Islip in the murders of Argueta and her son.

Heriberto Martinez, 27, of Far Rockaway, a leader of the Brentwood clique of the gang, was sentenced to life in prison in December after being convicted of approving the killing of Argueta and then helping the killers flee. Awaiting sentencing in connection with the killings are Rene Mejia, 20, of Brentwood and Patchogue, and Adalberto Guzman, 21, of Central Islip. They also face life in prison.

The three lured Argueta to a vacant lot in Central Islip, ostensibly because they were taking her out to a restaurant. She took her 2-year-old along because she could not find a baby-sitter.

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/juan-garcia-among-fbi-s-most-wanted-admits-double-murder-prosecutor-says-1.7554289#




Vanessa Argueta
On the night of February 4, 2010, a 17-year-old Garcia picked up 19-year-old Vanessa Argueta and her 2-year-old son. Garcia told the woman, whom he was believed to be dating at the time, that they were going to dinner. Then, according to authorities, he drove to a wooded and desolate area of Central Islip, Long Island. There Argueta and her son were both killed execution style. Argueta was shot in the head and chest with a .22-caliber handgun, and her son was shot twice in the head. Their bodies were found the next day. The FBI believes the violence occurred after a dispute over Argueta's association with a rival gang.

Read more at: http://www.heavy.com/news/2014/03/ju...i-most-wanted/