5 MS-13 gang members found guilty in string of gruesome California killings, bodies dumped off cliffs

Five MS-13 members were all found guilty Tuesday of participating in a string of gangland killings to advance their standing in the gang in which the victims were beaten, strangled and sometimes had their bodies thrown off a cliff in remote and mountainous locations near Los Angeles. 

A Los Angeles County jury convicted Walter Chavez Larin, 26; Roberto Alejandro Corado Ortiz, 30; and Edwin Martinez, 28, of one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act following a nine-week trial, the Justice Department said. 

Chavez and Corado also were found guilty of two counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR) murder. Martinez was found guilty of three counts of VICAR murder. Bryan Alexander Rosales Arias, 28, was also found guilty of one count of VICAR murder. 

Erick Eduardo Rosales Arias, 27, who is Bryan Rosales's brother, was found guilty of one count of VICAR murder.

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"We thank the jury for returning swift guilty verdicts against these MS-13 criminals who engaged in horrific acts of violence and murder," said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. "I thank and commend our law enforcement partners for their work in removing members of this terrorist organization from our streets. MS-13 is a violent brutal gang that must be eliminated from the United States, and we will not stop until we succeed in our mission."

The defendants committed at least six murders of members of the rival 18th Street gang or MS-13 members who had violated the gang's rules, federal prosecutors said. 

Many of the victims were beaten and killed with baseball bats, machetes and knives in or near the Angeles National Forest. 

In June 2017, one victim - who claimed he had a leadership role in MS-13 - was taken to the Angeles National Forest and stabbed and hacked to death by his killers, including Chavez, prosecutors said. Several of the assailants unsuccessfully tried to decapitate him before leaving his body behind.

In October 2017, another victim - rumored to be an 18th Street member - was lured to his death by two teenage girls. He was kidnapped, strangled, beaten with a baseball bat then fatally stabbed with a large hunting-style knife. Before his body was thrown off a cliff in the Angeles National Forest. This victim's assailants included Corado and Bryan Rosales.

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In July 2018, a third victim was lured to the hills near Malibu under the ruse of smoking marijuana and drinking beer with several other people. 

While the victim stood at a scenic overlook, Corado shot him in the back of the head. Corado gave the gun to Erick Rosales, who shot the victim before passing the gun to other MS-13 members who took turns shooting him, authorities said. 

The victim's body ultimately was thrown off the edge of a road down a hill.

Prosecutors said Martinez murdered three victims - one of them was shot to death in December 2018 after returning from the gym and was mistaken for an 18th Street gang member. Another was an MS-13 associate addicted to methamphetamine, a violation of the gang's rules, who was fatally shot on Jan. 13, 2019. A third was a homeless man who was fatally shot on Jan. 14, 2019 for having a tattoo believed to be related to 18th Street gang.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the violence "underscores the urgency of destroying MS-13 and putting its depraved members behind bars."

"Under President Trump, MS-13 can no longer unleash terror on the American people with impunity: We will eradicate this foreign terrorist organization and secure justice for its victims," she said. 

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman noted the gang's penchant for violence and its impact on communities in the region. 

"MS-13 has inflicted unimaginable suffering on victims and their families in our communities," he said. 

A sentencing hearing for those convicted Tuesday is scheduled for July 2026.