BALTIMORE, MD – A federal jury has convicted three members of the MS-13 gang for a wave of brutal violence in Maryland, including the murders of two young women and multiple attempted killings carried out to rise in the gang’s ranks.
Wilson Arturo Constanza-Galdomez, 26, of El Salvador; Edis Omar Valenzuela-Rodriguez, 24, of Honduras; and Jonathan Pesquera-Puerto, 24, of Honduras, were found guilty Sept. 19 of racketeering conspiracy and murder in aid of racketeering. Prosecutors said the men committed savage machete and knife attacks between 2019 and 2021 as part of the transnational gang’s push for dominance in Baltimore City and Baltimore County.
Key Points
- Three MS-13 members convicted of racketeering conspiracy and multiple murders in Baltimore
- Victims included two young women killed in machete and knife attacks
- Defendants face mandatory life sentences
Grisly attacks detailed in court
Evidence showed that in April 2020, the defendants carried out a machete assault on a suspected rival. The following month, they murdered 16-year-old Gabriela Gonzalez-Ardon near Loch Raven Reservoir, stabbing and slashing her repeatedly. In June 2020, the crew killed Michelle Tenezaca, stabbing her 143 times and leaving her body near train tracks in Baltimore.
Days later, prosecutors said, the same group attempted to murder two more victims, stabbing a woman more than 70 times before turning their knives on her boyfriend. Both survived.
Sentencing ahead
Constanza-Galdomez and Valenzuela-Rodriguez were each convicted of conspiracy and two counts of murder in aid of racketeering. Pesquera-Puerto was convicted of conspiracy and one count of murder in aid of racketeering. Each faces a mandatory life sentence.
The case was brought under Operation Take Back America, a Justice Department initiative targeting transnational gangs and organized crime.
A Baltimore jury’s verdict shut the door on a reign of terror carried out by MS-13 in Maryland streets.