An MS-13 member who provided the gun used to kill a woman in an Adelphi graveyard was sentenced to more than nine years in prison on racketeering charges.
Carlos A. Martinez, 21, is the latest member of La Mara Salvatrucha to be convicted in a sweeping federal case that has charged 51 people under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.
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Martinez, also known as Lobo, was only a teenager when he became a high-ranking member of the Langley Park Salvatruchos clique of MS-13, one of the murderous Latino gangs that operate throughout Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.
According to court documents, the Langley Park Salvatruchos believed that Nancy Diaz was passing on information to a rival gang.
On Oct. 25, 2004, members of the gang drove Diaz and another female to the George Washington Cemetery in Adelphi, supposedly to drink and party. Martinez furnished two MS-13 members with the gun used to kill Diaz and shoot 15-year-old Alyssa Tran.
Two members shot and killed Diaz. Tran was shot in the face and stabbed twice in the chest. She survived by pretending to be dead.
Martinez, who was still only 16 at the time, was involved in another headline-making murder five months later, according to court documents.
On March 26, 2005, Martinez was called to help confront rival members outside a strip mall in Prince George’s County. Martinez arrived with another MS-13 member, Jorge Rigoberto Amador, also known as Santo Diablo, who took out a .38-caliber pistol wrapped in a dark-colored bandana and fired several shots, killing 15-year-old Jose Arias.
Martinez helped with the disposal of the gun and car used in the attack, according to court documents.
By August that year, several senior members of the LPS clique had been arrested and kept behind bars. LPS members determined that Martinez was worthy of being promoted from treasurer to “second word,” a leadership position.
So far, the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office has convicted 24 MS-13 members on RICO charges and 19 have pleaded guilty to other charges, primarily immigration or gun violations. The rest are awaiting trial.
