MS-13 MEMBER PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER TO FURTHER RACKETEERING

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, December 3, 2015

MS-13 Member Pleads Guilty in Violent Racketeering Conspiracy

Defendant Admitted his Participation in MS-13 and Witness Retaliation Murder Conspiracy

A North Plainfield, New Jersey, man pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit murder in furtherance of a racketeering enterprise known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, announced Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman of the District of New Jersey and Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard M. Frankel of the FBI’s Newark, New Jersey, Division.

Jose Romero-Aguirre, aka Conejo, 29, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler of the District of New Jersey, who scheduled sentencing for March 16, 2016.  Romero-Aguirre remains detained pending sentencing.

According to court documents, MS-13 is a national and international gang with branches or “cliques” operating throughout the United States, including in Plainfield, New Jersey.  In connection with his plea, Romero-Aguirre admitted that he was a member of the Plainfield Locos Salvatrucha (PLS) Clique of MS-13 for a period of time continuing through at least August 2011.  Romero-Aguirre admitted that in or around July 2011, MS-13 members began investigating the arrest of several members of the PLS Clique to identify those who had provided police with information on the arrestees, contrary to PLS rules.  Romero-Aguirre admitted that he participated in phone calls with other incarcerated MS-13 members discussing the need to find and kill the witnesses and that he agreed to relay the murder instructions from the incarcerated members to the other MS-13 members.              

Twelve other members and associates of the PLS Clique are scheduled for trial in front of Judge Chesler on Feb. 9, 2016.  The charges include several counts of murder, attempted murder, robbery, extortion, witness retaliation and sexual assault.  

FBI’s Newark Division, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations’ Newark Field Office, the Plainfield Police Department and the Union County, New Jersey, Prosecutor’s Office investigated the case.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Donnelly and Jamari Buxton of the District of New Jersey and Trial Attorney Kevin L. Rosenberg of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section are prosecuting this case.

WOMAN CONVICTED IN DEADLY FIREBOMBING CASE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 
Friday, February 21, 2014
Philadelphia Woman Sentenced for Her Role in Deadly Firebombings

Kidada Savage, 31, of Philadelphia, was sentenced today to life in prison for her role in the Oct. 9, 2004, firebombing that killed six members of a federal witness’s family.   Savage is the sister of Kaboni Savage, who ordered the firebombing and who was sentenced to death for 12 counts of murder in aid of racketeering.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, United States Attorney Zane David Memeger of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Hanko of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division made the announcement.

Kidada Savage was convicted on May 13, 2013, of six counts of murder in aid of racketeering, all related to the firebombing of Eugene Coleman’s family home.   Coleman was a federal witness at the time.   Six people, including four children, were killed in the arson.   Kaboni and Kidada Savage were also convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, retaliating against a witness by murder and using fire to commit a felony.

Kidada Savage acted as a go-between for her brother, who was in federal custody awaiting a drug trial, and Lamont Lewis, who committed the firebombing.   Lewis pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.   Robert Merritt and Steven Northington were also convicted in the case.  Northington was sentenced to life; Merritt is awaiting sentencing.

The case was investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation Division, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and the Maple Shade Police Department in New Jersey.   The United States Bureau of Prisons, United States Marshals Service and the Philadelphia / Camden High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force also assisted in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Trial Attorney Steve Mellin of the Criminal Division’s Capital Case Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys David E. Troyer and John M. Gallagher.

TWO MEN INDICTED FOR THREATENING TO RETALIATE AGAINST A WITNESS

FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Friday, July 26, 2013
Two Louisiana Men Indicted for Threatening to Retaliate Against a Witness in a Federal Tax Trial

The Justice Department announced today that a federal grand jury in Baton Rouge, La., returned an indictment yesterday charging Anthony Williams and Bobby Riley with conspiring to threaten to retaliate against a witness in a federal trial, threatening to retaliate against a witness in a federal trial and making false statements to federal agents.

According to the indictment, Williams and Riley, both residents of Baton Rouge, threatened to cause bodily injury to a witness who testified in the federal trial of United States v. Angela Myers.  The indictment alleges that Williams and Riley made a threat via Instagram with the intent to retaliate against the witness for his testimony in the Myers trial.  In March 2013, Myers was convicted by a jury of twenty-one federal felonies in a stolen identity tax refund fraud prosecution.  The indictment also alleges that Williams and Riley made false statements to federal agents in March 2013.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and each defendant is presumed innocent of all crimes until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  If convicted, Riley and Williams each face a potential maximum sentence of 30 years in federal prison.

This case was investigated by Special Agents of the IRS - Criminal Investigation and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.  Trial Attorneys Justin Gelfand and Jason Poole of the Justice Department’s Tax Division are prosecuting the case with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana.