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Federal prosecutors announced that four members of MS-13 from Baltimore with curious nicknames are facing life in prison for the racketeering conspiracy that involved murders and drug trafficking to further their enterprise in Maryland.
Those indicted:
- Wilson Arturo Constanza-Galdomez, also known as “Humilde,” and “Marco Saravia,” 23;
- Edis Omar Valenzuela-Rodriguez, also known as “Little Felon,” 22;
- Jonathan Pesquera-Puerto, also known as “Truney," 21;
- Walter Orellana-Hernandez, also known as “Solotario," and “Little Diablo,” 21.
"In Maryland and elsewhere, MS-13 members are organized in ‘cliques,’ smaller groups that operate in a specific city or region,” prosecutors say. "MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence to maintain membership and discipline 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, MS-13 has maintained rivalries with multiple gangs, including:
- The 18th Street Gang;
- The Cruddy Boys;
- The Highland Boys;
- The Bloods;
- The Sureness Gang.
The indictment alleges that from June 2019 through at least October 2021, the defendants participated in the racketeering activities of MS-13, including two murders, four attempted murders, drug trafficking offenses, and witness tampering.
In April 2020, Constanza-Galdomez, Valenzuela-Rodriguez, Orellana-Hernandez, and other members conspired to murder their first victim in Baltimore, who they believed was a rival gang member.
On April 25, 2020, the group allegedly assaulted their victim in Baltimore, striking him with machetes repeatedly, with news of that attack being brought to MS-13 leadership, according to officials.
Weeks later, on May 29, 2020, Valenzuela-Rodriguez and other gang members also allegedly attempted to murder another victim by stabbing him with a knife.
On May 29, the indictment alleges that the four suspects lured a third victim, who they suspected of associating with rival gang members, to a park in Cockeysville, where they stabbed her to death while one MS-13 member served as a lookout.
Their reign of terror continued on June 5, 2020, when Constanza-Galdomez, Valenzuela-Rodriguez, Orellana-Hernandez, and other MS-13 members and associates allegedly lured a fourth victim whom they suspected was a rival gang member who cooperated with police, to an area near the CSX Bayview Yard in Baltimore, where they murdered her by stabbing her repeatedly with sharp objects.
The indictment alleges that there were conspiracies to commit additional murders and attempted murders of rival gang members throughout the summer of 2020 through similar means as their first four assaults, including one victim who was “greenlit” (ordered to be killed for violating MS-13 rules).
Further, the indictment alleges that from 2019 through 2020, the four conspired to distribute marijuana, cocaine, and fentanyl, to raise funds for MS-13 to purchase drugs and weapons for the gang and to send proceeds of the drug sale to MS-13 members and associates in Maryland, other states and in El Salvador to support the gang.
If convicted, all four men face a maximum sentence of life in prison for the racketeering conspiracy.
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