District Man Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison For 18th Street Gang Crimes

            WASHINGTON – Bryan Montesino, 19, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to a total of 42 months in prison for two attacks he carried out last year at the Columbia Heights Metro station, announced U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips, Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and Ron Pavlik, Chief of the Metro Transit Police.

            For one of the attacks, a jury found Montesino guilty of assault with intent to commit robbery while armed, criminal street gang participation, felony threats, and a weapons offense. That verdict was returned on May 17, 2017. On the following day, Montesino pled guilty to a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon for his role in the other offense.

            Montesino was sentenced in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia by the Honorable Maribeth Raffinan. Following his prison term, he will be placed on five years of supervised release.

            In the trial, the government’s evidence established that on Sept. 15, 2016, at about 5:45 p.m., a group of men approached the victim as he entered the Columbia Heights Metro station. The men, including Montesino, repeatedly told the victim that they were members of the 18^th Street gang and accused him of being a member of MS-13, a rival gang.

            The group demanded the victim’s belongings and surrounded him as he tried to get away. When the victim refused to give the group his belongings, Montesino threatened to stab the victim and gestured as if he had a weapon. Another member of the group punched the victim in the face before the group dispersed and the victim was able to flee to safety.

            Montesino was apprehended 15 minutes later, within blocks of the Metro station. He had a switchblade knife and a shank on his person at the time of his arrest. After his arrest and detention at the District of Columbia Jail, Montesino made a number of recorded jail calls, in which he referenced his involvement and participation in the 18^th Street gang, as well as the gang’s rivalry with MS-13.

            In his guilty plea, Montesino admitted that on Sept. 12, 2016, shortly after 4 p.m., he and six other men surrounded two victims after the victims got off a Metrobus at the Columbia Heights Metro station. They surrounded the victims and identified themselves as members of the 18^th Street gang. Both victims observed Montesino pull out and display a black handgun before placing it back inside of a backpack. Montesino then approached one of the victims and threatened to kill him while gesturing towards his waistband as if concealing a weapon. Montesino explained that he was retaliating for an incident a couple of weeks earlier when he felt threatened by someone whom he believed to be a member of the rival MS-13 gang. Meanwhile, another assailant approached the second victim and demanded his belongings. Both victims were able to flee from the scene and notify police.

            In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips, Chief Newsham, and Chief Pavlik commended the work of those who investigated the case from Metropolitan Police Department and the Metro Transit Police Department. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel Lenerz, Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez, Kathryn Rakoczy, and Jennifer Kerkhoff; Victim/Witness Advocate Diana Lim; Paralegal Specialists Tiffany Fogle and Richard Cheatham; Criminal Investigators Mark Fitzgerald and Nelson Rhone, and Litigation Technology Specialist William Henderson.

            Finally, they acknowledged the efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ahmed Baset, who prosecuted the case, and Monica Trigoso, who investigated and prosecuted the case.