Home Washington Press Releases 2009 MS-13 Member Sentenced to Life in Prison for 2007 Springfield Murder
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MS-13 Member Sentenced to Life in Prison for 2007 Springfield Murder

U.S. Attorney’s Office June 05, 2009
  • Eastern District of Virginia (703) 299-3700

ALEXANDRIA, VA—A federal judge today sentenced 29-year-old Sergio Amador Amador to life in prison for killing a suspected rival gang member. Amador and Oscar Omar Lobo-Lopez fatally shot Melvin Reyes, a suspected rival gang member, on May 5, 2007, in Springfield, Va. On Feb. 27, 2009, Amador pled guilty to murder in aid of racketeering before United States District Judge T.S. Ellis III.

Dana J. Boente, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Joseph Persichini Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office; Colonel David Rohrer, Fairfax County Chief of Police; and James Dinkins, Special Agent in Charge for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s Office of Investigations in Washington, D.C., made the announcement. Lobo-Lopez also faces a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced on July 24, 2009.

Amador and Lobo-Lopez, both members of the MS-13 or Mara Salvatrucha gang, fatally shot Melvin Reyes, also known as "Pelon," on the night of May 5, 2007. The two MS-13 gang members killed Reyes because he was believed to be a member of the rival 18th Street gang. The rules of MS-13 require its members to attack and/or kill rival gang members. After patrolling for Reyes earlier that day, Amador, Lobo-Lopez and other MS-13 members located Reyes at the Springfield Garden apartments. Amador and Lobo-Lopez, armed with handguns, chased after and fired at Reyes. Wounded from the initial gunshots, Reyes fell in the parking lot. Amador and Lobo-Lopez approached him, and Lobo-Lopez ordered Amador to finish him. Amador then fired shots to Reyes’ head. Reyes suffered from seven gunshot wounds at the time of his death. Amador was a member of a New York clique of MS-13, known as Surenos Locos Salvatrucha (SLS).

This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, the Fairfax County Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Suffolk County Police Department. Assistant United States Attorneys Morris Parker and Patricia Giles and Special Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Richter prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae . Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pacer.login.uscourts.gov .

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