MS-13 members sentenced to decades in federal prison for brutal murders committed at direction of gang leaders in El Salvador

GALVESTON, Texas - Eight illegal aliens and members of the violent transnational criminal organization Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, have been sentenced for participating in a racketeering conspiracy that included witness tampering and multiple murders of individuals as young as 14.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown has now imposed a 50-year term of imprisonment for Edgardo Martinez-Rodriguez aka Largo, 35, while Wilman Rivas-Guido aka Inquieto, 30, received 45 years. At the hearing, the court heard how Martinez-Rodriguez was a high-ranking leader in the conspiracy and initiated numerous murders. In handing down the prison terms, Judge Brown noted the violent nature of the crimes committed.

Six others were previously sentenced. Miguel Angel Aguilar-Ochoa aka Darki, 40, Wilson Jose Ventura-Mejia aka Discreto, 30, and Walter Chicas-Garcia, 28, each received 50-year sentences. Marlon Miranda Moran, 26, was ordered to serve 35 years, while Luis Ernesto Carbajal-Peraza, 34, and Carlos Garcia-Gongora, 28, were ordered to serve 45 years.

All are El Salvadoran nationals illegally present in the United States. They previously pleaded guilty, admitting to being members of MS-13 and participating in a criminal enterprise responsible for murders, extortion, drug trafficking, robbery and obstruction of justice in and around the Houston area from 2017 through 2018.

"Today's sentences send a clear message - those who carry out violence for transnational criminal organizations will be held accountable, no matter where the orders come from," said Marck. "These defendants used brutality to advance within their criminal enterprise, and now they face the consequences. The Southern District of Texas will diligently continue working to dismantle violent criminal gangs that threaten our community."

"These defendants, acting on behalf of a transnational criminal gang, carried out brutal murders, killing victims with machetes, baseball bats, and their bare hands, and then glorifying their violent acts by sending photos of their carnage to MS-13 leaders in El Salvador," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department's Criminal Division. "The Department commends the brave law enforcement officers and those who came forward to help law enforcement to resolve these cases. The lengthy sentences imposed send an unmistakable message that MS-13 and its accompanying violence are not welcome in the United States. The Criminal Division will relentlessly pursue MS-13 and hold those accountable who bring MS-13 violence to American communities."

"This case centers on when MS-13 violence was at its peak in Houston. These gang members are among the most ruthless and violent criminals we've seen. They made of our communities their killing fields," said Special Agent in Charge Jason Hudson of the FBI Houston Field Office. "Today's hefty sentences should send a message to other violent terrorist organizations that the rule of law and justice will eventually catch up to you. This investigation, and today's sentences, would not have been possible if it weren't for our partnerships with the Houston Police Department, the Harris County Sheriff's Office, and our law enforcement partners in El Salvador."

"All eight of these MS-13 gang members illegally entered the country - including Aguilar Ochoa who illegally entered the U.S. four times - and went on to reign terror on our local communities," said Acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Burke of Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations, Houston. "Working in conjunction with our partners, we were able to bring an end to the lawlessness that they've spread and hold them accountable for their depraved actions."

In February 2025, the State Department designated MS-13 as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. MS-13 engages in violent criminal activity across the United States, including Texas, Virginia, Maryland, New York and California, and throughout the countries where it operates, including El Salvador and Honduras. Members use intimidation and violence, including murder and assault with deadly weapons, such as machetes, baseball bats, firearms and ligatures used for strangling, all to maintain power, reputation and territory.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Martinez-Rodriguez and Rivas-Guido admitted to involvement in murder ordered and approved by high-ranking MS-13 leaders in El Salvador, who at times monitored executions by phone.

Members carried out the murders to increase or maintain rank within the gang and targeted individuals believed to be rival gang members, law enforcement cooperators or people working against MS-13's interests. After the murders, they sent photos of the victims' bodies to leadership in El Salvador as proof of the executions to rise in rank, sometimes further mutilating or dismembering the bodies before sending them.

All have been and will remain in custody.

FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation with assistance from police departments in Houston, Galveston and Prince George's County in Maryland, Sheriff's offices in Harris and Liberty counties, Texas Department of Public Safety, University of North Texas Center for Human Identification, U.S. Marshals Service and Texas Office of the Attorney General.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Keri Fuller and former Special Assistant U.S. Britni Verdeja prosecuted the case along with Trial Attorneys César S. Rivera-Giraud and Ben Tonkin from the Criminal Division's Violent Crime and Racketeering Section.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force nationwide initiative, which is a White House directed, interagency effort to integrate federal, state and local partners in targeting transnational criminal organizations and led by the prosecutorial Joint Task Force Vulcan.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.