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Jose David Navarro Cervellon, 41, of Norcross, Georgia, was convicted following an eight-day trial on federal charges for serving as a middle-man involving a man who wanted his wife killed for cheating, Attorney for the District of Maryland Erek Barron said.
Navarro was an associate of Silver Springs resident Miguel Angel Ayala Rivera, 28, the leader of the Pinos Locos Salvatrucha clique of MS-13, who agreed to kill a man for Hyattsville resident Miguel Antonio Renderos, 47, in exchange for $10,000, prosecutors said.
Navarro introduced Renderos to Ayala Rivera, who agreed to commit the murder.
The evidence presented at trial proved that Renderos wanted the victim to be killed because in 2012, after Renderos allowed the victim to move into the basement of Renderos’s home, a romantic relationship sparked with his wife, prosecutors said.
With Navarro serving as the middleman between Renderos and Ayala Rivera, the two exchanged phone calls to arrange the murder.
In November 2016, prosecutors said that Navarro paid for a hotel room for Ayala Rivera and a co-conspirator in College Park, according to officials. During that time, Ayala Rivera, Navarro, and the co-conspirator conducted surveillance of the victim in and around the property.
On Nov. 30, 2016, Navarro drove Ayala Rivera and the co-conspirator to the residence, where Ayala Rivera shot and killed him, they said. After the murder, Navarro left the area with Ayala Rivera and the co-conspirator and took Ayala Rivera to collect payment from Renderos for the murder.
Navarro faces life in prison.
Ayala Rivera and Renderos pleaded guilty to their roles in the murder-for-hire and are scheduled to be sentenced on Friday, Aug. 5. In a related case, Luis Cruz Hernandez, 28, of Silver Spring, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the murder-for-hire and was sentenced to 51 years in federal prison.
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