An MS-13 member was sentenced to five years in prison for lying to a federal grand jury investigating the murder of a rival gang member.
Thirty-five-year-old Edin Ayala-Melgar, of Herndon, had been identified as a material witness in the May 2007 shooting death of Melvin Reyes, a member of the 18th Street gang, in Springfield.
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Investigators believed that Reyes was killed as part of a deadly turf battle over Northern Virginia gang territory, and that Ayala-Melgar could help identify one of the killers, Carlos Bladimir Montoya.
Both Montoya and Ayala-Melgar — also known as “Chupa Cabra” — were leaders of the Unidos Locos Salvatrucha, or the “ULS” clique, of MS-13. The rules of MS-13 require its members to attack or kill rival gang members, prosecutors said.
Investigators believed that Montoya, also known as “Ciego” or “Choco,” drove the car used in the shooting, authorities said. The gang members found Reyes at the Springfield Garden apartments, chased him into a parking lot and shot him seven times, killing him.
The slaying was one of three Hispanic gang-related killings in Fairfax County that year, and police turned to federal authorities for help in the case.
As investigators put their case together, Ayala-Melgar was granted immunity and ordered to testify before the grand jury in Alexandria.
Ayala-Melgar took the stand twice and falsely denied being a member of MS-13. He falsely testified that he did not know whether Montoya was a member.
Despite Ayala-Melgar’s lies on the stand, prosecutors said, Montoya was still indicted for murder in aid of racketeering and later found guilty after a jury trial. He will be sentenced next month and faces life in prison.
Two of the gunmen were sentenced last year to life in prison.
