A federal jury today returned guilty verdicts against five members of the transnational criminal organization Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) for their roles in a conspiracy that involved six brutal murders committed to advance their standing within the gang.
Following a nine-week trial, the defendants were found guilty of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, along with multiple counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR) murder.
The victims, who were either rival 18th Street gang members or individuals who violated MS-13 rules, were killed through extreme violence—including strangulation, shootings, and stabbing with knives or a machete—with some bodies disposed of in remote areas like the Angeles National Forest.
The jury found the following individuals guilty:
- Walter Chavez Larin, 26, of Panorama City
- Roberto Alejandro Corado Ortiz, 30, of Baldwin Park
- Edwin Martinez, 28, of Cypress Park
- Bryan Alexander Rosales Arias, 28, of South Los Angeles
- Erick Eduardo Rosales Arias, 27, of South Los Angeles (Bryan Rosales’s brother)
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Walter Chavez Larin, Roberto Alejandro Corado Ortiz, and Edwin Martinez were found guilty of RICO conspiracy. Martinez was found guilty of the highest number of murder counts (three), while Chavez and Corado were each convicted of two VICAR murders. The Rosales Arias brothers were each convicted of one VICAR murder count.
Barbaric Acts of Violence
Evidence presented at trial detailed the horrific nature of the killings, which occurred between 2017 and 2019 across Los Angeles County. These acts were allegedly required by MS-13 Los Angeles cliques for members to rise in the gang’s ranks.
- In June 2017, a victim was stabbed and hacked to death in the Angeles National Forest, with assailants, including Chavez, attempting to decapitate him.
- In October 2017, another victim, rumored to be an 18th Street member, was lured by two teenage girls, then kidnapped, strangled, beaten with a baseball bat, and fatally stabbed with a large hunting knife before his body was thrown off a cliff. Corado and Bryan Rosales were among the assailants.
- In July 2018, a victim was lured to the Malibu hills and shot multiple times, first by Corado, then by Erick Rosales and other members, before his body was thrown down a hill.
- Edwin Martinez was solely responsible for three murders, including a victim mistaken for a rival gang member, an MS-13 associate killed for a methamphetamine addiction, and a homeless man targeted for a perceived 18th Street-related tattoo. Chavez participated in one of Martinez’s murders.
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Law Enforcement Response
Federal and local law enforcement leaders hailed the verdicts as a major blow against the criminal organization.
“The horrific violence in this case underscores the urgency of destroying MS-13 and putting its depraved members behind bars,” said United States Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “We will eradicate this foreign terrorist organization and secure justice for its victims.”
First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli commended the law enforcement partnership for removing “members of this terrorist organization from our streets.” Akil Davis, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, noted that the defendants carried out the “barbaric attacks… to simply enhance their ranking within the gang.”
Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell and Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna both stressed the strong partnership between their departments and federal authorities in bringing the violent individuals to justice. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman called the convictions “one of the most significant victories against MS-13’s Los Angeles network in decades.”
Mandatory Life Sentences Ahead
All five defendants face a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison when they are sentenced by United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II in July 2026.
Prosecutors have secured 25 convictions in this broader case so far, with several other MS-13 members and associates scheduled to go to trial in April 2026.
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