Thread: S.C.: 2 members of MS-13 gang sentenced to life in murder pl

February 11, 2011

2 members of MS-13 gang sentened to life in murder plot

By CLIF LEBLANC

COLUMBIA, S.C COLUMBIA, S.C. - Two members of a notorious Central American gang face life in federal prison in a murder-for-hire scheme cooked up over bad blood in Honduras that ended in gunfire in South Carolina, a prosecutor said Friday.

Josue Benitez, 22, and Martin Teran, 36, were convicted Thursday after a three-week trial of a hit on Jorge Ramos, U.S. prosecutor Jay Richardson said. Ramos was gunned down while he worked on his car Nov. 2, 2008, in Hendrix Mobile Home Park in West Columbia.

The MS-13 gang members drove from Houston to South Carolina to carry out the contract killing, Richardson said.

Jurors also convicted the two of returning to the United States after being deported - in Teran's case six times - and being illegal immigrants carrying firearms, the U.S. attorney's office said. Teran, of Guatemala, also was convicted of witness tampering and obstruction of justice.

They are the latest members of the El Salvador-based gang to be convicted in the Carolinas. Six MS-13 members were found guilty last month in Charlotte, N.C., of crimes ranging from murder to cocaine trafficking.

The investigations are unrelated, Richardson said.

The trial showed that Teran and Benitez, the gunman and a Honduran, came to the Columbia area with a third man looking for Ramos, who had been living here a year or two, the prosecutor said. The trio was to be paid $40,000 to kill Ramos, an auto mechanic. A third defendant, Juan Carrillo, remains a fugitive, Richardson said.

Benitez came here with his wife and child, his court-appointed defense attorney, Cam Littlejohn of Columbia, said Friday.

"Who brings their wife and baby along for a contract killing?" he said.

Littlejohn said prosecutors had differing arguments about the motive behind the plot. One informant who testified said it was because a man in Honduras wanted Ramos dead for killing his son. Another informant said Ramos was suspected of stealing nearly 40 pounds of drugs. The defense failed to persuade jurors that the absence of a clear motive was grounds for acquittal.

The hired hands drove from Texas in Teran's gray Isuzu SUV then bought two pickup trucks, a white one and a green one with a white door. The purchases were to substantiate what Richardson said was their alibi, that they came to Columbia looking for vehicles and shopping at flea markets and garage sales.

Ramos, whose age was not immediately available, was shot in the head and back with a .38-caliber pistol, according to the evidence. The getaway vehicle was a green pickup with a white door.

It was found abandoned in woods near the mobile home park, Richardson said.

The suspects drove back toward Texas in separate vehicles, the Isuzu and the white pickup, Littlejohn said.

Benitez, who has a tattoo on his left hand showing the Roman numerals for 13, was arrested in Houston about two weeks after Ramos died. Police found a .38-caliber Beretta, which SLED ballistics experts identified as the gun that killed Ramos, the prosecutor said.

While the two suspects sat for months in the Lexington County jail awaiting trial, agents intercepted encoded communications from Teran that Richardson said showed Teran was trying to keep witnesses from testifying. Teran has made statements that he is a member of MS-13, the prosecutor said.

The defendants will face mandatory life sentences after a pre-sentence report is given to trial Judge Joe Anderson. That process usually takes two to three months.

MS-13, short for Mara Salvatrucha, has it origins in Salvadoran guerilla fighters who settled in Los Angeles, where they formed a gang to counter violence from Mexican-Americans already living there, according to the website knowgangs.com.

The Salvadorans had experience and training in guerilla warfare so they quickly became known as the most violent gang in the area. The gang since has spread across the nation.

www.bellinghamherald.com

Make that life sentence about 2 days long .

Originally Posted by Hawk

Make that life sentence about 2 days long .

I gotta agree. I know some feel goods are against the death penalty but I strongly support it when its related to heinous crimes such as gang related deaths commited by members and such other heinous crimes. I'd want a law where once convicted of such a death sentence in certain instance types is mandatory and you have 15 days to appeal and it goes before a judge briefing the evidence and the appeal application and either upholds the request for appeal or rejects it as no merit. 12 hours from that period a bullet is cheap.

Law abiding tax payers should not have to pay for these heinous criminals who commit really horrible crimes to live out life sentences and such. We also know that these type of criminals never reform. Plus when future potential criminals see that instead of just being tossed in a cush prison they will wind up dead its a fairly big incentive to not commit.

Only one who should be able to ask for leniecy on no death sentence should be the family of the victim or victim themselves if alive.

Related post:


SC: Illegal immigrants found guilty in Midlands man's murder
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-227871.html