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Queens resident Marcelo Esquivel has been charged in federal court with murder in-aid-of racketeering and causing death through the use of a firearm in connection with the fatal shooting of Daniel Licona-Gonzalez on July 2, 2012.
U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said that on the day of the fatal shooting, Esquivel, who was the leader of the Centrales Locos Salvatrucha clique of MS-13, directed two gang members to murder a member of the rival Latin Kings, providing them with a gun to pull off the hit.
Donoghue said that one of Esquivel’s co-conspirators was new to the gang and “hoped to earn respect within the gang by carrying out the act of violence.”
It is alleged that the two co-conspirators set out on a bicycle to find a Latin King to murder, with one riding on the back pegs of the bike. The two went to the area of Lowe Court and 149th Street in Jamaica, which is a popular Latin Kings spot, at which point they saw a group of men believed to be rival gang members.
One of the co-conspirators yelled, “La Mara,” a reference to his gang, and shot Licona-Gonzalez in the head, Donoghue said. The victim died the following day.
“A man standing in the street was shot in the head, and later died because two members of MS-13 sought out a twisted type of gravitas in their violent gang,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney stated. “The men rode a bicycle to carry out their orders allegedly given by Mr. Esquivel, an oddly childlike behavior with deadly consequences.”
Esquivel was arrested on Thursday, July 9, and scheduled to be arraigned on a charge of murder in-aid-of racketeering on Friday, July 10.
“As alleged, Esquivel ordered the murder of another human being in furtherance of the vicious code of the MS-13 gang, and the life of an 18-year-old man was ended by co-conspirators carrying out the defendant’s death wish,” Donoghue said in a statement.
“The Eastern District will continue to do everything possible to crush the MS-13 and Esquivel’s arrest sends a powerful message that the passage of time will not deter this Office and our law enforcement partners from investigating, prosecuting and holding accountable anyone who commits violent crimes on behalf of the gang.”
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