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Treasurer of MS-13 Gang Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy



Participated in Gang Rapes of Two Juvenile Girls

GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Melvin Murios-Garcia,
also known as Strichar, age 19, of Hyattsville, Maryland, pleaded guilty
today to conspiracy to conduct and participate in racketeering enterprise
activities of an MS-13 gang, announced United States Attorney for the
District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said, "We will continue to coordinate
our efforts and use all available tools to combat violent gangs that engage
in such vicious and heartless crimes."
According to the plea agreement, La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the
MS-13 gang (hereafter "MS-13"), is a gang composed primarily of immigrants
or descendants of immigrants from El Salvador, with members operating
throughout Prince George's County and Montgomery County, Maryland, and
elsewhere. MS-13 is a national and international criminal organization with
approximately 10,000 members.
From 2001 to 2006, Murios-Garcia paid dues to the gang and engaged in
"tagging" (graffiti) to mark the territory purportedly under the control of
MS-13. Murios-Garcia became the gang's treasurer, collecting gang dues and
relaying that money to gang leaders, including wire transfers to other gang
members in Los Angeles, California.
On May 12, 2003, MS-13 gang members picked up two girls -- ages 15 and
17 -- outside a local high school early that morning. The girls were taken
to the home of an MS-13 member, where Murios-Garcia and a number of MS-13
gang members were present. The girls were taken to separate bedrooms where
they were held at gun point. One of the gang members held the first victim
and choked her while telling her that she would have sex with all the gang
members. Murios-Garcia and the other MS-13 gang members lined up in a
"train" and entered the bedrooms in five minute intervals, raping each
girl. Each victim estimated being raped by more than 10 gang members.
In the summer of 2003, Murios-Garcia and other gang members robbed a
marijuana dealer at knife-point near a liquor store in Hyattsville,
Maryland. An MS-13 member took approximately $1,700 from the dealer and
gave it to Murios-Garcia, who maintained the money to assist incarcerated
gang members and for other gang purposes.
In July 2005, Murios-Garcia attended a gang meeting in which he and
other MS-13 members decided that an MS-13 gang member named "Coco" would
murder a rival gang member as punishment because Coco did not help in a
fight in which two MS-13 gang members were stabbed. Ultimately, "Coco" did
not murder the rival gang member.
Murios-Garcia faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $250,000
fine. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow has scheduled sentencing for
April 30, 2007. Murios-Garcia remains in federal custody.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the investigative work
performed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Prince George's County Police
Department; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; the Montgomery County
Police Department; the Howard County Police Department; the Maryland
National Capital Park Police; the Maryland State Police and the Fairfax
County, Virginia Police Department. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant U.S.
Attorneys James Trusty and Chan Park, and Trial Attorney David Jaffe, of
the Department of Justice Gang Squad, who are prosecuting the case. Mr.
Rosenstein also commended the State's Attorney's Office for Prince George's
County for the cooperation provided by their office.
Contact AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC or MARCIA MURPHY at 410-209-4885



SOURCE U.S. Attorney for Maryland