Posted on 07/01/2026 8:30:21 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Three MS-13 gang members have been convicted of nine murders, kidnapping and racketeering in a Nevada courtroom.
Jose Luis Reynaldo Reyes-Castillo of El Salvador, David Arturo Perez-Manchame of Honduras, and Joel Vargas-Escobar of El Salvador were all found guilty by a federal jury on Monday. The DOJ says all three had also been charged with gun offenses, and that all three were in the country illegally.
The DOJ says all three men were part of the Parkview clique of MS-13, operating in Las Vegas.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Vargas-Escobar was the leader of the clique until his arrest in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve 2017. Reyes-Castillo then became leader, while Perez-Manchame was a member of the clique.
The DOJ says that the three men collectively committed nine murders over the course of a year in Nevada and California. Many of the victims kidnapped by MS-13 were taken to remote locations in the mountains and deserts to be tortured and killed.
“Thanks to the tireless work of our law enforcement partners and prosecutors, these MS-13 members will be held accountable for the horrific violence they unleashed on U.S. communities during their year-long killing spree,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “This Justice Department will continue to use every tool available to us to dismantle MS-13 and other deadly transnational criminal organizations.”
In December of 2017, the clique greenlit the murder of a victim who was a member of a rival gang. On Dec. 18 of that year, Reyes-Castillo and another of the gang kidnapped the victim from Mendota, California and drove him to a rural area before taking him to another location and murdering him with a machete and knives.
On New Year’s Eve 2017, Reyes-Castillo, Vargas-Escobar and another MS-13 member killed a second victim in a drive by shooting in front of a Las Vegas home after believing he was dealing drugs in their territory. The DOJ says the killing was done to reduce competition for MS-13 drug dealers.
Over the course of the next four months, the men would go on to kill seven more people, all for gang related reasons.
Reyes-Castillo was convicted of one count of RICO charges, eight counts of murder in aid of racketeering, seven counts of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, six counts of causing death through the use of a firearm, five counts of kidnapping in aid of racketeering and one count of attempted murder in aid of racketeering.
Perez-Manchame was convicted of RICO charges, two counts of murder in aid of racketeering, and two counts of kidnapping in aid of racketeering.
Vargas-Escobar was convicted of one count of RICO conspiracy, one count of murder in aid of racketeering, one count of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence and one count of causing death through the use of a firearm.
Each man faces life without the possibility of parole and will be sentenced in November of this year
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9 murders and we can’t get a Death Penalty? How many does one have to kill in Nevada to get euthanized?
We gripe about DA’s, but the life of this prosecutor might be in danger.
Has MS-13 killed a prosecutor (or judge) in the U.S. yet?
Wow! Might get 6 months probation for all that!
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