GALVESTON, Texas
Eight El Salvadoran nationals living illegally in Houston have pleaded guilty to racketeering charges tied to the violent MS-13 gang, including multiple murders and witness tampering, U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei announced.
Walter Antonio Chicas-Garcia, 28, Wilson Jose Ventura-Mejia, 29, Miguel Angel Aguilar-Ochoa, 40, and Marlon Miranda-Moran, 26, entered guilty pleas this week. Four others — Luis Ernesto Carbajal-Peraza, 33, Edgardo Martinez-Rodriguez, 35, Carlos Alexi Garcia-Gongora, 27, and Wilman Rivas-Guido, 29 — pleaded guilty Aug. 11.
MS-13, a violent transnational gang with roots in El Salvador and Honduras, is responsible for a wave of killings and intimidation across the U.S., including Texas, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and California, according to court records.
According to authorities, the eight Houston-based members admitted to racketeering charges, confessing to murders, extortion, drug trafficking, robbery, and obstruction of justice between 2017 and 2018.
Prosecutors said leaders in El Salvador ordered and approved the killings—sometimes listening by phone as victims were beaten, strangled, or hacked with machetes. Photos of the mutilated bodies were sent back to the gang’s hierarchy.
Sentences range from 35 to 50 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown set sentencing for November, officials stated.