MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced to 27 Years in Prison on Racketeering Charges

WASHINGTON, March 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A member of La Mara
Salvatrucha (MS-13) has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for his
participation in a racketeering enterprise, Assistant Attorney General Alice
S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Edward M. Yarbrough for
the Middle District of Tennessee announced today.

Walter Hernandez, a.k.a. Spanky, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District
Judge Todd J. Campbell of the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville. Judge
Campbell also ordered Hernandez to serve five years of supervised release upon
his release from prison.

At his plea hearing on January 29, 2008, Hernandez admitted that he and others
involved in the MS-13 gang conspired to participate in a pattern of
racketeering activity in the Nashville metropolitan area, which included
murder and attempted murder. In addition, Hernandez admitted that on January
20, 2006, he and another gang member were involved a dispute with two men from
a rival gang, which resulted in Hernandez shooting one of the men. The victim
later died from his injuries.

Hernandez is the fourth defendant to be sentenced on Racketeer Influenced and
Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges stemming from an indictment returned
by a federal grand jury in Nashville on Jan. 10, 2007. That indictment charged
14 members of MS-13 with conspiring to participate in the affairs of a
racketeering enterprise and related charges including murder, attempted
murder, assault, weapons charges, and obstruction of justice. Defendant Jose
Alfaro, a.k.a Liche, was sentenced on Dec. 10, 2007, to 20 years in prison and
three years supervised release upon his release from prison. Defendant Henry
Garaballo Vasquez, a.k.a Cuero was sentenced on December 4, 2007 to 20 years
in prison and three years of supervised release. Defendant Geovanni Pena,
a.k.a Rata was sentenced on Nov. 20, 2007, to 135 months in prison and three
years supervised release upon his release from prison. Trial for the remaining
defendants is currently scheduled for Aug. 5, 2008.

The MS-13 street gang is a violent international criminal organization. The
purpose of the racketeering enterprise was to preserve and protect the power,
territory and profits of the MS-13 enterprise through violent assault, murder,
threats of violence and intimidation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jimmie Lynn Ramsaur of the
Middle District of Tennessee and Trial Attorneys David Jaffe and John Han of
the Criminal Division's Gang Squad. The case was investigated by the Nashville
Metropolitan Police Department's Gang Suppression Unit; the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement;
the Davidson County District Attorney General's Office; the U.S. Attorney's
Office in the Middle District of Tennessee and the Criminal Division's Gang
Squad.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2007