Juan Lopez, aka, “Diabolico,” 20, of Riverdale, pled guilty today to conspiracy to conduct and participate in the activities of a racketeering enterprise, announced U.S. Attorney for Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.
According to the plea agreement presented to the court, La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13 gang (hereafter “MS-13″), is a gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from El Salvador, with members operating throughout Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, Maryland, and elsewhere. MS-13 is a national and international criminal organization with approximately 10,000 members regularly conducting gang activities in at least ten states and the District of Columbia, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador. MS-13 is one of the largest street gangs in the United States. Gang members actively recruit members, including juveniles, from communities with a large number of immigrants from El Salvador.
Beginning at least in August 2004 and continuing through August 2006, Juan Lopez was associated with MS-13 and conspired to participate in its illegal activities. Specifically, Lopez possessed a weapon to prepare to engage in assaults against rival gang members. He attended meetings of the Langley Park Salvatruchos (LPS) clique and paid dues. On September 24, 2004, he participated in an armed robbery with other MS-13 gang members in Montgomery County, Maryland. He was arrested on September 25, 2004, pled guilty (under the alias name Juan Pablo Arevalo), and was sentenced to prison. He was released on February 14, 2005.
On March 26, 2005, Lopez and other MS-13 gang members confronted rival gang members from Lewisdale. The altercation took place outside a strip mall in Prince George’s County. The gang members contacted other gang members who arrived on the scene. Two of the MS-13 gang members searched for the rival gang members. Upon identifying a car containing some of the men, one of the MS-13 gang members took out a .38 caliber revolver wrapped in a dark colored bandana, and fired several shots from the driver’s seat of his car. A 15 year old male was killed. The MS-13 gang member drove the vehicle away from the scene of the murder and its occupants then met up with Lopez and other participants in the initial verbal confrontation. At that meeting, Lopez and others burned the bandana that had been wrapped around the murder weapon. In addition, the participants in that meeting discussed the shooting and disposing of evidence, including the gun and vehicle.
Lopez was arrested on August 25, 2005. Lopez stated that he had been a member of MS-13 for three years with the Guanacos Little Cycos Salvatruchos (GLCS) clique from Fairfax, Virginia. He said he was “jumped in” when he was 17 years old. He also said that he was not part of any cliques with MS-13 in this area. He later recanted and stated that he was a member of the MS-13 Langley Park Salvatruchos (LPS) clique. He stated that he has been a member for only one year, and that he had only attended one meeting. He said that meeting was at an unidentified house somewhere in Langley Park, Maryland. He claimed that his moniker with MS-13 is “Diablo,” translated to mean “Devil.” When asked about his involvement in the shooting/homicide on March 26, 2005, he falsely denied any knowledge of the incident.
Lopez faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow scheduled sentencing for Oct 16, 2006.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire