Los Angeles (BN24) – Five members of the violent transnational gang MS-13 have been convicted in federal court for a series of six grisly murders carried out to elevate their status within the organization — killings marked by extreme brutality, including shootings, stabbings, beatings, and mutilations.
After a nine-week trial, a Los Angeles jury found Walter Chavez Larin, 26, of Panorama City; Roberto Alejandro Corado Ortiz, 30, of Baldwin Park; and Edwin Martinez, 28, of Cypress Park, guilty of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Chavez and Corado were also convicted of two counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering (VICAR) murder, while Martinez was convicted of three counts. Two brothers from South Los Angeles, Bryan Alexander Rosales Arias, 28, and Erick Eduardo Rosales Arias, 27, were each convicted of one count of VICAR murder.
According to prosecutors, the murders were committed to strengthen MS-13’s dominance in Los Angeles and to allow members to climb the gang’s hierarchy. The victims, many of whom were believed to be rival 18th Street gang members or individuals who violated MS-13’s internal rules, were lured to remote areas — including the Angeles National Forest and Malibu hills — where they were killed and, in some cases, their bodies dumped off cliffs or down ravines.
“The horrific violence in this case underscores the urgency of destroying MS-13 and putting its depraved members behind bars,” said U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Under President Trump, MS-13 can no longer terrorize the American people with impunity.”
Prosecutors described a pattern of calculated brutality. In one 2017 murder, Chavez helped stab and hack a fellow gang member to death in the Angeles National Forest after the victim falsely claimed leadership within MS-13. In another, two teenage girls lured a man suspected of being an 18th Street member to his death, where Corado and Bryan Rosales strangled, beat, and stabbed him before tossing his body off a cliff.
A 2018 killing involved a man shot multiple times at a scenic overlook in Malibu; Corado initiated the shooting before handing the gun to Erick Rosales and other gang members. Martinez was tied to three other killings in late 2018 and early 2019, including the murders of an alleged rival gang member, a fellow MS-13 associate accused of drug use, and a homeless man mistakenly believed to be part of a rival faction.
“These verdicts send a powerful message that MS-13’s reign of terror in Los Angeles will not be tolerated,” said Bill Essayli, First Assistant U.S. Attorney. “We will continue to pursue and dismantle this violent organization at every level.”
FBI Los Angeles Field Office Assistant Director Akil Davis called the murders “barbaric attacks carried out solely to enhance the killers’ ranking within MS-13,” while LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna praised the collaborative investigation that led to the convictions.
The defendants face mandatory life sentences when they appear before U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II for sentencing in July 2026.
Federal prosecutors said the case is part of a broader crackdown on MS-13’s Los Angeles cliques. To date, 25 gang members have been convicted, with several more trials scheduled for 2026.
The investigation was led by the FBI, Los Angeles Police Department, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, with prosecutors from multiple sections of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Source: justice.gov (DOJ)
