MS-13 Gang Leader Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison for Racketeeri…piring to Commit Multiple Murders | USAO-MD | Department of Justice 5/3/22, 3:37 PM
https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/ms-13-gang-leader-sentenced-life-federal-prison-racketeering-conspiracy-and-conspiring Page 1 of 4
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, April 25, 2022
U.S. Attorneys » District of Maryland » News
Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Maryland
MS-13 Gang Leader Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison for
Racketeering Conspiracy and Conspiring to Commit Multiple
Murders
Directed and/or Participated in Five Murders in Maryland and Virginia
Greenbelt, Maryland – U.S. District Judge Paula Xin is today sentenced El Salvadorian national Junior
Noe Alvarado-Requinto, a/k/a “Insolent” and “Tran kilo,” age 24, of Landover, Maryland to life in federal
prison, for conspiring to participate in La Mara Salvatrucha, a transnational criminal enterprise also
known as MS-13, and for three counts each of murder in aid of racketeering and conspiracy to commit
murder in aid of racketeering, as well as for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and
cocaine. Alvarado-Requinto was convicted of those charges on November 23, 2021 after a four-week
trial.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek L. Barron;
Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Nassau
County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly; Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. D’Antuono, of the FBI
Washington Field Office; Acting Special Agent in Charge Selwyn Smith of Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI) Baltimore Office; Administrator Anne Milgram of the Drug Enforcement
Administration; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; Chief Marcus Jones
of the Montgomery County Police Department; and Bedford County (VA) Sheriff Michael W. Miller.
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MS-13 Gang Leader Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison for Racketeeri…piring to Commit Multiple Murders | USAO-MD | Department of Justice 5/3/22, 3:37 PM
https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/ms-13-gang-leader-sentenced-life-federal-prison-racketeering-conspiracy-and-conspiring Page 2 of 4
“The brutal and tragic violence perpetrated by Alvarado-Requeno and his fellow MS-13 gang members is
totally unacceptable. Today’s sentence sends the message that the United States Attorney’s Office for
the District of Maryland and our local and state partners are working together to remove these violent
international gang members to keep our communities safe from the threat of MS-13,” said U.S. Attorney
Erek L. Barron.
“Members of the Sailors Clique of MS-13, including Alvarado-Requeno, spread fear in local communities
using violence and extortion,” said Steven M. D’Antuono, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI
Washington Field Office. “He directly participated in the brutal murder of a teenager, and directed and
planned four other homicides with his MS-13 co-conspirators. With today’s sentence, he will no longer be
able to commit—or direct others to engage in—brutal, senseless violence against members of our
communities.”
Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said, “The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office
has for years been dedicated to pursuing MS-13 across Long Island and dismantling the organization
piece by piece, successfully prosecuting key leadership in our area and blunting gang violence in our
communities. This work, however, does not end at our county borders. We are proud to have
participated in the collaborative investigative effort that led to the prosecution of this dangerous criminal
and further diminishes MS-13’s impact.”
MS-13 is a transnational gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador.
Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the United States, operate throughout
Frederick County, Anne Arundel County, Prince George’s County, and Montgomery County, Maryland.
According to the evidence presented at the four-week trial, between 2015 and 2018, Alvarado-Requinto
and his co-defendant, Miguel Angel Chorea Diaz, a/k/a “Reaper,” age 41, of Long Branch, New Jersey,
controlled and operated the Sailors Locos Salvatruchos Westside (S.L.S.W. or “Sailors”) Clique through a
pattern of racketeering activity, which included murder, extortion, drug trafficking, money laundering, and
witness tampering. Evidence showed that the gang ran a protection scheme in and around its home
base in Langley Park, Maryland, and extorted local businesses by charging them “rent” for the privilege
of operating in MS-13 “territory.” The gang also trafficked in illegal drugs, including marijuana, heroin,
and cocaine. A large share of the proceeds of the gang’s illegal activities were sent to gang leadership in
El Salvador to further promote the goals of the gang, using structured transactions and intermediaries to
avoid law enforcement scrutiny.
The Sailors Clique committed acts of violence against suspected rival gang members, as well as against
its own membership for breaking gang rules. The evidence showed that in June 2016, AlvaradoRequeno ordered members of the Sailors Clique to murder a suspected rival in the woods at Malcolm
King Park in Gaithersburg. Luring him with the promise of sex with a female MS-13 associate, the gang
members ambushed the teenaged victim and stabbed him 153 times. In fact, the victim did not belong to
any gang.
In March 2017, a member of the Sailors Clique who was hiding from law enforcement in the Lynchburg,
Virginia area had a dispute with a local high school student over marijuana. In response, AlvaradoRequeno and Corea-Diaz organized a squad of MS-13 members to drive down to Lynchburg and murder
the high schooler. The gang members kidnapped the student from his front lawn and cut his hand off
MS-13 Gang Leader Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison for Racketeeri…piring to Commit Multiple Murders | USAO-MD | Department of Justice 5/3/22, 3:37 PM
https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/ms-13-gang-leader-sentenced-life-federal-prison-racketeering-conspiracy-and-conspiring Page 3 of 4
before killing him. After the murder, the Alvarado-Requeno and Corea Diaz helped to hide and protect
the killers who escaped the scene from law enforcement.
Among the most important rules of MS-13 is the prohibition against talking to law enforcement, embodied
by the maxim “ver, oir, y callar – see, hear, and say nothing.” The gang enforced this rule by placing a
“green light” – an order to kill – on any member of MS-13 who was thought to be informing on the gang.
In December 2016, Alvarado-Requeno directed and participated in the murder of a 14-year-old member
of MS-13 who was suspected of talking to the police. The boy’s remains were discovered eighteen
months later in the woods outside of Germantown, Maryland.
The jury made special findings beyond a reasonable doubt that as part of the racketeering conspiracy
Alvarado-Requeno murdered two other individuals and as part of the racketeering conspiracy Corea Diaz
conspired to murder a third person.
On April 1, 2022, Judge Xinis sentenced Miguel Angel Corea Diaz to life in prison. Corea Diaz was
convicted of the racketeering conspiracy, racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of
racketeering, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, cocaine, and heroin; and
possession with intent to distribute heroin.
Anyone with information about MS-13 is encouraged to provide their tips to law enforcement. The FBI
and Homeland Security Investigations both have nationwide tiplines that you can call to report what you
know. You can reach the FBI at 1-866-STP-MS13 (1-866-787-6713), or you can call HSI at 1-866-DHS2-ICE.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation.
OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the
United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the
strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
United States Attorney Erek L. Barron and Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite commended the
Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI, HSI, the DEA Washington and Buffalo Field Divisions,
the Prince George’s County Police Department, the Montgomery County Police Department, and the
Bedford County Sherriff’s Office for their work in the investigation and prosecution. Mr. Barron and Mr.
Polite thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Hagan, and Trial Attorneys Julie Finocchiaro and
Alexander Gottfried of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, who are
prosecuting the case.
# # #
Topic(s):
Violent Crime
Component(s):
Civil Rights – Criminal Section
USAO – Maryland
Contact:
MS-13 Gang Leader Sentenced to Life in Federal Prison for Racketeeri…piring to Commit Multiple Murders | USAO-MD | Department of Justice 5/3/22, 3:37 PM
https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/pr/ms-13-gang-leader-sentenced-life-federal-prison-racketeering-conspiracy-and-conspiring Page 4 of 4
Updated April 25, 2022
Marcia Murphy
(410) 209-4854
