TwoVirginia men have been indicted on murder and racketeering charges, accused of gunning down a rival gang member in a Springfield parking lot so that they could improve their profile in the notorious MS-13 street gang.
Federal prosecutors allege in documents unsealed Friday that Rafael “Cheve” Parada-Mendoza and Gabriel “Dandy” Hosman Perez-Amaya executed Christian Argueta in the parking lot outside the Cerro Grande restaurant a few weeks before Christmas. The pair, each 21 and former Fairfax County residents, are accused of murder, conspiracy and firearms charges. Both are illegal immigrants and shot Argueta as a kind of grisly initiation, authorities charged.
Also indicted was Jorge “Rama” Parada, 28, a D.C. resident and purported MS-13 member who now faces drug-trafficking charges. The trio were charged by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg announced in a statement Friday.
MS-13 was founded in Central America but has established a foothold in the U.S. Law enforcement authorities consider the gang a menace because of its international reach and ultra-violence. According to court papers, Parada-Mendoza was supposed to have been deported by U.S. immigration officials in 2006 but skipped his appointment.
Federal authorities got involved in the case when police recovered Smith and Wesson shell casings at the scene, according to court papers. Since Smith and Wesson doesn’t manufacture in Virginia, the FBI used the interstate commerce clause to assume jurisdiction.
Informants on the street told FBI agent Robert G. Saale that Parada-Mendoza and Perez-Amaya were at Cerro Grane a few moments before Argueta was killed. Parada-Mendoza later bragged about the slaying, informants told Saale, according to court documents.
All three men were arrested last month – Parada-Mendoza and Parada in Texas and Perez-Amaya in the Virginia suburbs.
If convicted, Parada-Mendoza and Perez-Amaya could be sentenced to death; Paradafaces up to 40 years in federal prison.
