Three members of the Mara Salvatrucha-13 (MS-13) transnational street gang were charged in the murder of a former MS-13 gang member who was cooperating with law enforcement on a federal racketeering and drug trafficking case, federal prosecutors announced on May 16.
One of the defendants, Roberto Carlos Aguilar, is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.
Aguilar, 30, of South Los Angeles, was charged in a separate federal complaint with murder in aid of racketeering.
Urias is a legal permanent resident, and Santiago had filed a visa application, which was pending.
All three defendants made their first court appearance late on Thursday in the U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles, according to federal prosecutors.
A federal magistrate judge has ordered them detained without bond and has scheduled their arraignments for June 3.
“These cases are part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles said in a statement on Friday.
According to court documents, Urias and Santiago allegedly shot the victim to death at a grocery store in South Los Angeles on Feb. 18.
The victim’s status as a government cooperator was well known by the MS-13 gang. Federal prosecutors say this status made the victim subject to a “green light” order that made him a target for murder by MS-13 members.
Court documents claim that Urias had what appeared to be a chance encounter with Aguilar inside the grocery store about an hour before the victim’s death. After the encounter, Aguilar allegedly set in motion a series of events that led to Urias and Santiago allegedly shooting and killing the victim, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
On Feb. 18, the victim made two telephone calls to authorities and said he was at a grocery store in South Los Angeles where MS-13 members had just tried to kill him, according to prosecutors.
He told authorities he had been talking with MS-13 members when a man, whose face was covered, approached and tried to shoot him, but the gun did not fire, prosecutors claimed.
At one point during the second phone call, several gunshots were heard, officials said.
Prosecutors claim that Aguilar, Urias, and Santiago allegedly avoided discipline or enhanced their status within the gang by murdering the victim.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Los Angeles Police Department are investigating the case.
