MS-13 Member Sentenced to 23 Years in Prison for RICO Conspiracy

BOSTON – A member of MS-13 was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston. 

German Hernandez Escobar, a/k/a “Terible,” 30, a Salvadoran national, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 23 years in prison, three years of supervised release and will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. In March 2018, Hernandez Escobar pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute marijuana. 

According to court documents, Hernandez Escobar was a leader of MS-13’s Everett Loco Salvatrucha (ELS) clique and was previously arrested on a state gun possession charge. After his arrest, Hernandez Escobar was recorded suggesting to other ELS members that a 15-year-old member of the clique had cooperated with the police and that he was arrested as a result. Thereafter, the 15-year-old boy was murdered by MS-13 members in a park in Lawrence. Hernandez Escobar also conspired with other MS-13 members to sell marijuana as a means of raising funds to promote the ELS clique’s criminal activities, including purchasing firearms, and ensured that ELS sent dues regularly to incarcerated MS-13 leaders in El Salvador.

Hernandez Escobar is one of 49 defendants who have been convicted as part of this ongoing prosecution. Sixteen of those defendants have been held responsible for murder. Forty of the 49 convictions, including Hernandez Escobar, were the result of guilty pleas prior to trial. Nine other defendants were convicted after trial.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Commissioner Thomas Turco of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections; Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger; Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Thompkins; Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; Middlesex County District Attorney Marian T. Ryan; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett; Boston Police Commissioner William Gross; Chelsea Police Chief Brian A. Kyes; Everett Police Chief Steven A. Mazzie; Lynn Police Chief Michael Mageary; Revere Police Chief James Guido; and Somerville Police Chief David Fallon made the announcement today.