NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A federal grand jury in Nashville returned a 60-count, second superseding indictment, charging nine MS-13 gang members with a racketeering conspiracy.
The announcement was made by the assistant attorney general of the Department of Justice criminal division and the acting U.S. attorney for the middle district of Tennessee.
Charges in the indictment include seven murder allegations, kidnappings, numerous assaults, robberies and large-scale drug distribution.
This ongoing Organized Crime & Drug Enforcement Task Force investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; U.S. Marshals Service; Tennessee Bureau of Investigation; and Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Those charged in the indictment include: Carlos Ochoa-Martinez, 31, aka “El Serio,” Jason Sandoval, 35, aka “Bin Laden,” Jorge Flores, 29, aka “Peluche,” Kevin Tidwell, 28, aka “Miklo,” all of Nashville; Jose Pineda-Caceres, 22, aka “Demente,” Franklin Hernandez, 22, aka “Happy,” and Luis Colindres, 24, aka “Listo,” all of Honduras; Gerson Serrano-Ramirez, 34, aka “Frijole,” of El Salvador and Juan Melendez,” aka “Shaggy,” of Lebanon, Tennessee.
The indictment describes the organizational structure of MS-13 and the gang’s sub-unit, the Thompson Place Los Salvatrucha clique, operating in Nashville since at least 2014. The purpose of the MS-13 enterprise includes preserving and protecting the power, territory, reputation and profits of the enterprise through the use of intimidation and violence, including murder and promoting the enterprise through acts of murder, extortion, drug trafficking and other criminal activities.
To generate income, MS-13 gang members engage in illegal activities under the protection of the enterprise, including drug trafficking, robbery, extortion and other crimes. They often steal and used stolen vehicles to carry out these illegal activities. Funds generated by the illegal activity provide financial support to gang leaders, members and associates, including individuals incarcerated in the United States and El Salvador.
Cooperation with law enforcement is strictly prohibited under MS-13’s rules. It is well understood within the gang that anyone who assists authorities will be punished with death and the gang honors those who have killed police informants.
In addition to numerous acts of drug distribution and firearms offenses, the indictment alleges that one or more MS-13 gang members conspired with other MS-13 gang members and committed the following acts of violence:
All defendants are in federal custody. If convicted, they each face decades of incarceration, including up to life in prison.
An indictment is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move.
HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.