MALIBU—On Monday, November 10, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office disclosed that a Los Angeles federal jury found five MS-13 Los Angeles gang members guilty in a racketeering case, including a string of killings in the Angeles National Forest and shootings that occurred in the San Fernando Valley from 2017 to 2019. LADA’s Deputy District Attorney Eric Siddall served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the case.
Following a nine-week trial, the jury found the following defendants from Los Angeles guilty of racketeering acts, including murder, extortion, and narcotics trafficking:
-Walter Chavez-Larin (MS-13 Fulton clique): one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and two counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering murder
-Edwin Martinez (MS-13 Fulton clique): one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and three counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering murder
-Roberto Corado Ortiz (MS-13 Directos Locos): one count of conspiracy to violate the RICO Act and two counts of violent crimes in aid of racketeering murder
-Erick Rosales Arias (MS-13 Directos Locos): one count of violent crimes in aid of racketeering murder
-Bryan Rosales Arias (Directos Locos): one count of violent crimes in aid of racketeering murder
Several killings started in 2017 and took place in North Hollywood, the Malibu Hills, and the Angeles National Forest.
In 2017, gang members abducted, tortured and murdered the victims in a ritualistic manner to elevate their membership status.
United States District Judge Otis D. Wright II scheduled sentencing hearings for July 2026. The defendants face a mandatory sentence of life in federal prison. These convictions follow years of investigation by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Task Force on Violent Gangs, a joint effort between the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
By Danny Jones