MS-13 Leader Pleads Guilty to July 2009 Alexandria Murder

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Adolfo Amaya Portillo, a.k.a. “Skyper,” a leader of the Sailors Locos Salvatrucha Westside (SLSW) clique of MS-13, admitted murdering a pimp while robbing the pimp and a prostitute in Alexandria, Va, on July 29, 2009. Today, Portillo pled guilty to using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence, and causing the death of Claros Luna through the use of a handgun.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office; and Earl L. Cook, Alexandria Chief of Police, made the announcement. Portillo faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison when he is sentenced on July 30, 2010.

According to statements made in court, in July 2009, Luna transported women from Maryland to Virginia to engage in prostitution. Posing as potential customers, Portillo, Eris Arguera, and Alcides Umana lured Claros Luna and the prostitute to Manor Road in Alexandria, Virginia on July 29, 2009. Once Luna and the prostitute arrived at Manor Road, the prostitute exited the vehicle and entered the apartment building at 704 Manor Road. Arguera, brandishing a handgun, met the prostitute in the lobby and directed her to the nearby vehicle where Luna sat waiting in the driver’s seat. Arguera and the prostitute entered the rear driver’s side door of the vehicle. Portillo, armed with a handgun, entered the front passenger door. Umana, armed with a knife, entered the rear passenger-side door of the vehicle. Portillo demanded rent or extortion payments from Luna. Luna attempted to grab Portillo’s handgun. Umana then put his knife to Luna’s throat. Portillo and Arguera fatally shot Luna three times. Portillo fired two of the three fatal shots—one to Luna’s chest and a second contact wound to Luna’s head. A third shot entered the left side of Luna’s back and exited his chest. Portillo, Arguera, and Umana then took the money that Luna and the prostitute had earned from the prostitution business that day.

This case was investigated by the Alexandria Police Department and FBI’s Washington Field Office, with assistance from the Fairfax County and Arlington County Police Departments and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)’s Office of Investigations in Washington, D.C. Assistant United States Attorneys Ronald Walutes and Morris Parker 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.