Woodbridge, Dumfries Killings, Other MS-13 Gang Activity Lead To Sentences

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VA — The final defendant was sentenced Tuesday in a major MS-13 gang case that included four homicides, two of which were reported in Prince William County.

Six defendants were convicted in two federal trials were sentenced to prison time. All but one of the defendants got multiple life sentences.

According to prosecutors, the six defendants were part of MS-13’s Sitios Locos Salvatrucha clique, which ran out of Northern Virginia and other locations. From at least 2017 to 2020, gang members traveled to and from Long Island, New York to get cocaine from Marvin Menjivar Gutierrez, the gang clique's leader in the U.S. The cocaine would then be taken to the DC region and sold at nightclubs and bars with proceeds supporting more cocaine to sell, purchase of weapons and helping other MS-13 gang members in the U.S. and El Salvador.

In spring 2019, Menjivar Gutierrez and second-in-command Melvin Canales Saldana issued orders for gang members to begin killings to help junior members rise in the ranks and boost the clique's reputation, according to prosecutors. The first killing was carried out by three gang members, including defendants including Cristian Arevalo Arias and Carlos Turcios Villatoro. Prosecutors say two victims were lured to a wooded area, shot and stabbed by gang members. The gang members had believed one of the victims belonged to a rival gang, and the second victim was killed to eliminate witnesses.

The third victim was killed in Woodbridge in August 2019. Arevalo Arias, Manilester Andrade Rivas and others went to Glen Arbor Apartments in Woodbridge to look for rivals, leading Arevalo Arias to fatally shoot a victim.

The next month, defendant Jairo Aguilera Sagastizado traveled from New York to Woodbridge and spent hours driving around Northern Virginia and Maryland with two other gang members to look for rivals to kill. While they were unable to find a rival, they shot a victim who was walking home from a 7-Eleven in Dumfries.

"MS-13 represents a cycle of death in our society that cannot be tolerated and must be eradicated. MS-13 sells the poisons that destroy communities, families, and lives, and uses the profits to purchase the weapons they use to kill our people in the streets," said Eastern District of Virginia's U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber in a statement. "This is why federal, state, and local law enforcement employ a coordinated, comprehensive, and strategic approach to systematically dismantle these organizations and end their ability to do harm."

Defendants sentenced in the MS-13 case include:

Marvin Menjivar Gutierrez, 32, of New York, received multiple life sentences

Convicted of racketeering conspiracy; murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to distribute cocaine; use of firearm in federal violent crime resulting in death

Melvin Canales Saldana, 32, of New York, received multiple life sentences

Convicted of racketeering conspiracy; murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to distribute cocaine; cocaine distribution

Cristian Arevalo Arias, 28, of Virginia, received multiple life sentences

Convicted of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to distribute cocaine; two counts of use of firearm in federal violent crime resulting in death; witness tampering by killing; cocaine distribution

Carlos Turcios Villatoro, 26, Maryland, received multiple life sentences

Convicted of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to distribute cocaine; two counts of use of firearm in federal violent crime resulting in death; witness tampering by killing

Jairo Aguilera Sagastizado, 28, of New York, received multiple life sentences

Convicted of racketeering conspiracy; murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to distribute cocaine; use of firearm in federal violent crime resulting in death

Manilester Andrade Rivas, 34, of Virginia, received 14 years in prison

Convicted of racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering; conspiracy to distribute cocaine; cocaine distribution