A Columbia, Maryland, man pleaded guilty today to his
participation in a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or
MS-13, including his participation in an attempted murder.
Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the
Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein of the
District of Maryland, Special Agent in Charge Andre R. Watson of U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations
(HSI); Chief James Tom Kemp of the Greenbelt Police Department; Chief Hank
Stawinski of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Prince George’s
County State’s Attorney Angela D. Alsobrooks.
Celvin Eulice Ramos-Meija, aka Cadejo, 21, Ramos-Mejia
pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte in the District of
Maryland to conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering and attempted
murder in aid of racketeering.
Ramos-Mejia had been detained on related Maryland state charges since
June 2016. Sentencing is set for June
22, 2017.
MS-13 is a national and international gang that was formed
and is headquartered in El Salvador.
Branches or “cliques” of MS-13, one of the largest street gangs in the
United States, operate throughout Prince George’s County, Montgomery County,
and Frederick, Maryland. MS-13 members
are required to commit acts of violence within the gang and against rival
gangs. One of the principal rules of
MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, known as “chavalas,”
whenever possible.
According to his plea agreement, Ramos-Mejia admitted that
for the purpose of maintaining and increasing his position in MS-13, he
conspired with other MS-13 members to murder a victim that he and his
co-conspirators had identified as a “chavala.”
Specifically, the Ramos-Mejia admitted that on June 6, 2016,
he and other members and associates of MS-13 approached the victim in
Greenbelt, Maryland. The defendant made
an MS-13 sign in the face of the victim, and then he and his co-conspirators
began to attack the victim. The victim
survived the attack, but sustained multiple stab wounds and injuries, including
lacerations to his abdomen, liver and diaphragm. The victim was hospitalized for 10 days as a
result of the attack.
HSI Baltimore, the Greenbelt Police Department, the Prince
George’s County Police Department, and the Prince George’s County State’s
Attorney’s Office investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Francesca Liquori of the Organized Crime and Gang Section
and Assistant U.S. Attorneys William D. Moomau and Lindsay Eyler Kaplan of the
District of Maryland are prosecuting the case.
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