COLUMBUS —Federal and state authorities have outlined details of the long-running prosecution of an Ohio branch of the violent El Salvador-based MS-13 gang, which was responsible for a decade-long string of murders and other crimes.
Vipal Patel, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and officials from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, the Columbus police department and the FBI on Thursday discussed charges against 22 defendants and the solving of eight homicides linked to MS-13 in Ohio and three other states (see above).
One of the 23 gang members named in a 2018 indictment remains at large.
Racketeering conspiracy charges against gang members have included murder, attempted murder, assault, drug trafficking and money laundering.
Gang leader Martin Neftali Aguilar-Rivera was sentenced to life in prison in 2019. Jose Bonilla-Mejia has also been sentenced to life behind bars, three other gang members are serving 40-year terms and another four have been sentenced to at least 30 years in prison, including
Juan Flores-Castro, 32, who was sentenced in a federal courtroom Thursday to 30 years in prison for his role in two murders and drug trafficking.
Authorities say the gang carried out eight murders between 2006 and 2017, including four in Columbus. The gang also is responsible for the 2006 murder of Jose Mendez in Perry County, a 20016 murder in Virginia, the 2017 death of a woman in Texas believed to have dated a member of a rival gang, and the 2017 slaying and dismemberment of a man in Indianapolis.
Other offenses include extortion, assault, obstruction of justice and witness intimidation, as well as weapons offenses and immigration-related violations.