A federal judge has cleared the streets of eight MS-13 gang members, sentencing the group to massive prison terms for a string of brutal murders and racketeering crimes that turned the Houston area into what investigators called a “killing field.”
The defendants, all El Salvadoran nationals who entered the U.S. illegally, were sentenced for their roles in a conspiracy that involved killing victims as young as 14 using machetes, bats, and bare hands.
The sentences, handed down recently, mark the end of a long-term investigation into the transnational organization, which was officially designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department in February 2025.
Among those sentenced today were 35-year-old Edgardo Martinez-Rodriguez, known as “Largo,” who received 50 years, and 30-year-old Wilman Rivas-Guido, known as “Inquieto,” who received 45 years. Six other members, including one man who had illegally entered the U.S. four different times, received sentences ranging from 35 to 50 years.
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“These defendants, acting on behalf of a transnational criminal gang, carried out brutal murders… and then glorifying their violent acts by sending photos of their carnage to MS-13 leaders in El Salvador,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva. Court documents revealed a gruesome protocol where gang members would photograph mutilated bodies to prove the executions to leadership abroad in hopes of rising in rank. In some instances, leaders in El Salvador even monitored the executions in real-time over the phone.
The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led the probe, which centered on a peak of violence between 2017 and 2018. Special Agent in Charge Jason Hudson of the FBI Houston Field Office noted that the gang targeted anyone perceived as a rival or a law enforcement cooperator.
“These gang members are among the most ruthless and violent criminals we’ve seen,” Hudson stated.
Acting Special Agent in Charge Erin Burke of HSI Houston highlighted that all eight men were in the country illegally at the time of their crimes.
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She credited the joint effort of local and federal partners for ending the “lawlessness” spread by the group. The prosecution was part of “Operation Take Back America,” a Department of Justice initiative specifically aimed at dismantling cartels and transnational organizations.
“Today’s sentences send a clear message – those who carry out violence for transnational criminal organizations will be held accountable, no matter where the orders come from,” said Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck. The eight men remain in federal custody to begin serving their terms, which total hundreds of combined years behind bars.
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