By Gangsters Inc. Editors
A member of MS-13 in Maryland went off to prison last week. 26-year-old Franklyn Edgardo Sanchez, who goes by the nicknames “Freddy,” “Magic,” “Miclo,” and “Delinquente,” was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison on Friday, for his participation in a racketeering conspiracy, including two murders, related to his activities as part of the MS-13 gang.
He was also ordered to pay restitution in the full amount of the victims’ losses, including any funeral costs incurred by their estates.
Killing suspected snitches
From August 2018 through July 2021, Sanchez was a member and associate of Weedams Locos Salvatrucha, (WLS) an MS-13 clique operating primarily in Adelphi, Maryland.
According to the plea agreement, on February 23, 2020, at the direction of an MS-13 leader, Sanchez and fellow MS-13 member Hernan Yanes-Rivera, shot and killed a former WLS member in retaliation for his suspected cooperation with law enforcement. As a result of his participation in the murder, Sanchez was promoted within the hierarchy of MS-13.
As detailed in court documents, on August 8, 2020, Sanchez and several WLS members agreed to the murder of another man, who was suspected of cooperating with law enforcement and to whom Sanchez owed a debt.
After driving to a wooded area in Prince George’s County, Maryland, WLS leader Brayan Alexander Torres called the man and told him to come to the wooded area to participate in a disciplinary beating of Sanchez. In fact, Sanchez knew that the gang intended to murder the other man.
Sanchez was armed with a revolver, and Torres gave a second revolver to another MS-13 member to participate in the murder. When the man arrived, Sanchez and the other MS-13 member each fired multiple shots at him. He then fall to the ground where Sanchez pistol-whipped and stabbed him with a knife.
Torres and other WLS members dragged his body to a stream and left it there. As he was leaving the woods, Sanchez noticed he was bleeding and became concerned that his DNA was left on the body. To prevent the discovery of DNA or other evidence and to hinder the investigation and prosecution of this murder, Torres called other WLS members, including Agustino Eugenio Rivas Rodriguez, and ordered them to bring shovels to the wooded area, where they dug a hole and buried the body, which was later recovered with a bullet wound to the head.
Sanchez also participated in money laundering by transferring gang funds to MS-13 members and associates in El Salvador. Sanchez knew the money he transferred was the proceeds of the gang’s extortion activities.
29-year-old Brayan “Spooky” Alexander Torres will be sentenced to 28 years in federal prison, while 22-year-old Hernan “Recio” Yanes-Rivera and 25-year-old Agustino “Terrible” Eugenio Rivas Rodriguez will be sentenced to 22 years and 16 years in federal prison, respectively. Sentencing for Torres is scheduled for August 31, 2023; for Rivas Rodriguez on July 21, 2023; and for Yanes-Rivera on July 28, 2023.
MS-13 in Maryland
The La Mara Salvatrucha gang, also known as MS-13, is an international criminal organization with members operating in the State of Maryland, including Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and Frederick County, and throughout the United States.
In Maryland and elsewhere, MS-13 members are organized in “cliques,” smaller groups that operate in a specific city or region. MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence, both to maintain membership and discipline within the gang and against rival gangs.
One of the principal rules of MS-13 is that its members must attack and kill rivals, known as “chavalas,” whenever possible. Participation in criminal activity by a member, particularly in violent acts directed at rival gangs or as directed by gang leadership, increases the respect accorded to that member, resulting in that member maintaining or increasing his position in the gang and opens the door to promotion to a leadership position.
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