Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Baltimore, Maryland – Three men received life sentences, today, for federal conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving murders, attempted murders, and drug trafficking, as well as murder in aid of racketeering charges. Wilson Arturo “Humilde” “Marco Saravia” Constanza-Galdomez, 26, of El Salvador; Edis Omar “Little Felon” Valenzuela-Rodriguez, 24, of Honduras; and Jonathan “Truney” Pesquera-Puerto, 24, all received the mandatory sentence.  

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today a federal jury in Brooklyn returned guilty verdicts against national MS-13 leaders Edenilson Velasquez Larin, also known as “Agresor,” Saturno,” “Tiny,” and “Paco,”; Hugo Diaz Amaya, also known as “21”; Fulton Locos Salvatruchas (Fulton) clique leader Jose Espinoza Sanchez, also known as “Cable,” “Bleca,” and “Fantasma”; and Fulton member Jose Arevalao Iraheta, also known as “Splinter,” “Inesperado,” and “Daniel.”  The four defendants were convicted on 24 counts of a third superseding indictment. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Today, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in the case of Davis et al. v. Hanna Holdings Inc. The lawsuit, brought by homebuyers, alleges that real-estate brokerages and their trade association, the National Association of Realtors, entered into anticompetitive agreements that inflated broker commissions and raised home prices for Americans. The statement of interest explains that competition among real-estate brokerages is critical for protecting American homebuyers and that trade association rules are subject to antitrust scrutiny in a number of ways.

“Purchasing a home is the single biggest purchase most Americans make in a lifetime,” said Assistant Attorney General Abigail Slater of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. “Today’s soaring housing prices make competition in real estate brokerage more important than ever. Antitrust laws are key to safeguarding competition, which reduces prices and improves services for homebuyers.”

Americans spend about a third of their budgets on housing and housing-related costs. Yet real-estate broker commissions in the United States have remained at 5% to 6% for decades — two to three times more than that in other developed economies. Trade association rules that artificially inflate broker commissions and increase the burden on American consumers must be closely scrutinized by antitrust laws.

U.S. courts have long recognized that trade associations violate the antitrust laws when they unreasonably restrict competition among their members. While taking no position on the ultimate disposition of the case, the statement of interest explains that competition among real-estate brokerages is critical for protecting American homebuyers and that the antitrust laws provide a remedy when real-estate brokers agree to stop competing with one another — whatever form that agreement takes. When plaintiffs challenge trade association rules that embody an agreement among competitors, the rules are subject to a challenge under Section 1 of the Sherman Act. In addition, the statement of interest explains that association rules are not automatically exempt from the per se rule prohibiting horizontal price fixing.

The Antitrust Division routinely files statements of interest and amicus briefs in federal court where doing so helps protect competition and consumers, including by encouraging the sound development of the antitrust laws.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Wilson Arturo Constanza-Galdomez, also known as Humilde, also known as Marco Saravia, 26, of El Salvador, Edis Omar Valenzuela-Rodriguez, also known as Little Felon, 24, of Honduras, and Jonathan Pesquera-Puerto, also known as Truney, 24, of Honduras were each sentenced today to life in prison for their convictions at trial of Racketeering (RICO) Conspiracy involving murder and Racketeering Murder, all related to their association with La Mara Salvatrucha, commonly known as MS-13, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.

“These defendants committed brutal violence — including murdering and stabbing young women and girls — to fuel their respective climbs up the MS-13 organization,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These acts, often carried out with machetes, spread fear and terror throughout the community.  As today’s life sentences reflect, the Criminal Division will be relentless in its pursuit of MS-13 leaders, members and associates, to restore a sense of safety and security to neighborhoods throughout the United States.”

“These ruthless individuals displayed a total lack of humanity and regard for life, including murdering a 16-year-old girl, all to advance their standing within a transnational criminal organization,” said U.S. Attorney Kelly O Hayes for the District of Maryland. “Now they’ll spend the rest of their lives behind bars where they belong. We, along with our law-enforcement partners, are committed to dismantling the MS-13 gang, and other lawless organizations, and holding criminals accountable who thrive on committing murders and terrorizing our communities.”

“The horrific acts of violence carried out by these MS-13 members are indefensible and demonstrates a complete disregard for human life,” said Acting Assistant Director Rebecca Day of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “The FBI remains steadfast in our commitment to relentlessly pursue members and associates of MS-13 and obtain justice for the victims of their crimes.”

This case targeted the violent activities of MS-13, a transnational criminal organization that operates throughout Central America and the United States. MS-13 members are organized into “cliques,” smaller groups that operate in a specific city or region, including Maryland. The defendants, all MS-13 members and associates, were required to commit acts of violence to increase their status and rank within the gang. One of the principal rules of MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, known as “chavalas,” whenever possible. In Baltimore City and Baltimore County, MS-13 maintained a rivalry with the 18th Street Gang, among others.

The investigation led to the conviction of six MS-13 members, including the three trial defendants. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on April 25, 2020, Constanza-Galdomez, Valenzuela-Rodriguez, and other members and associates of MS-13 assaulted a man whom they suspected of being a rival gang member by repeatedly striking him with machetes, resulting in significant injuries to the victim’s face and arm. Afterward, those involved reported the incident to MS-13 leadership in El Salvador to gain credit and increase their status.

On May 29, 2020, Constanza-Galdomez, Valenzuela-Rodriguez, Pesquera-Puerto, and other members and associates of MS-13 lured a 16-year-old girl, whom they suspected of associating with rival gang members, to an area near Loch Raven Reservoir in Cockeysville, Maryland. There, they struck her with a machete and stabbed her multiple times, murdering her. They then reported it to MS-13 leadership.

On June 5, 2020, Constanza-Galdomez, Valenzuela-Rodriguez and other MS-13 members and associates lured another female, whom they suspected was a rival gang member that cooperated with law enforcement, to an area near the CSX Bayview Train Yard in Baltimore, Maryland. There, the gang stabbed her 143 times, killing her and leaving her body near the train tracks. They again reported the murder to MS-13 leadership.

On June 6, 2020, Constanza-Galdomez, Pesquera-Puerto, and other MS-13 members and associates confronted a man, who had had prior disputes with the gang, and his girlfriend, who was the sister of one of the prior murder victims. Constanza-Galdomez and other members and associates ordered younger MS-13 members to bring the female victim to the same train tracks where her sister had been murdered. There, the younger members stabbed her over 70 times. All three defendants stabbed the male victim multiple times. Both victims survived the attacks.

The FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Baltimore County Police Department, the Baltimore City Police Department, and the U.S. Marshal’s Service investigated the case.

Trial Attorneys Grace Bowen and Christopher Taylor of the Justice Department’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney James Wallner for the District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.

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 (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN).

Anyone with information about MS-13 is encouraged to provide their tips to law enforcement. The FBI and HSI 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 call HSI at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

R. Matthew Price, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a civil forfeiture complaint has been filed in federal court against approximately $1.2 million in digital currency seized by the government in connection to a fraudulent online investment scheme.