MS-13 Leader Currently Serving Federal Prison Sentence for RICO Conspiracy Pleads Guilty to Role in 2010 Murder

BOSTON – A local leader of the transnational criminal organization known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, pleaded guilty today to committing a previously unsolved murder of a man in Chelsea, Mass. in 2010.

Jose Vasquez, a/k/a “Cholo,” a/k/a “Little Crazy,” 31, pleaded guilty to one count of violent crime in aid of racketeering. U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for June 30, 2025. Vazquez was indicted by a federal grand jury along with two other MS-13 members in September 2024. The charge of violent crime in aid of racketeering provides for a sentence of up to life in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. Vasquez is currently serving a 212-month prison sentence for a May 2018 federal conviction of conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO or racketeering conspiracy.

MS-13 is a transnational criminal organization with tens of thousands of members located in the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and elsewhere. MS-13 branches, or “cliques,” operate throughout the United States, including in Massachusetts. In furtherance of its mission, MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence, specifically against rival gang members; kill informants; and support and defend fellow MS-13 members in attacks. MS-13 members maintain and enhance their status in the gang and the overall reputation of the gang by participating in such violent acts. Vasquez was a member and local leader of the Trece Locos Salvatrucha, or TLS, clique of MS-13 operating in Somerville, Mass. In addition to being a leader of an MS-13 clique, Vasquez personally participated in racketeering activity and acts of violence on behalf of MS-13.

At approximately 7:10 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2010, law enforcement responded to a 911 call under the Fifth Street on-ramp to Route 1 in Chelsea. There, a 28-year-old male was found with approximately 10 stab wounds to his head, back and chest. The victim was transported to the hospital where he ultimately succumbed to his wounds. A recent reexamination of evidence collected during the initial investigation identified members of MS-13, including Vasquez, as having committed the murder.

In the week leading up to the incident, Vasquez and other MS-13 members conspired to murder the victim because they believed the victim belonged to a rival gang. Evidence revealed that on the day of the murder, Vasquez and other MS-13 members picked the victim up in front of a McDonald’s in Allston. The group then drove to Chelsea where Vasquez and other MS-13 members led the victim to a secluded area under the highway where an MS-13 member hit the victim in the head with a rock and another MS-13 member stabbed the victim with a machete. During the attack, Vasquez stabbed the victim with a knife. Vasquez’s palm print was identified on the handle of a kitchen knife recovered from the scene. The victim’s blood was also found on the knife.

An undercover recording obtained of an MS-13 meeting that took place on Jan. 27, 2011 – approximately six weeks after the murder – captured one MS-13 member acknowledging his participation in the murder and other gang members disciplining him for leaving Massachusetts after the murder without the gang’s permission. Vasquez was identified as being present for the meeting.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Kimberly Milka, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Michael J. Krol, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England; Geoffrey D. Noble, Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police; Chief Shumeane Benford of the Somerville Police Department, and Chief Keith Houghton of the Chelsea Police Department made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Boston Field Division; United States Customs and Border Protection; and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Pohl, Brian A. Fogerty and Meghan C. Cleary of the Criminal Division prosecuted the case.

This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

The details contained in the superseding indictment are allegations. The remaining defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.