Jury returns guilty verdict in MS-13 trial, but some counts end in mistrial

Las Vegas federal jurors returned guilty verdicts Monday against three men accused of being MS-13 gang officials and committing a series of murders.

But the jury did not return a guilty verdict on each count or for every one of the 11 killings that the men were accused of carrying out.

U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro said some of the 34 counts ended in mistrial and indicated there could be a second trial for those charges.

The verdict brings to a close a complex, months-long federal trial, which involved testimony about the inner workings of the gang and occurred as a national battle played out over immigration.

The Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 gang started in Los Angeles in the 1980s and engages in crimes like murder, human smuggling and drug trafficking in the United States and other countries, according to the National Counterterrorism Center. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanee Smith told jurors during the trial that its purpose is not to enrich members, but to encourage violence and loyalty.

Jose Luis Reynaldo Reyes-Castillo, David Arturo Perez-Manchame and Joel Vargas-Escobar began their trial in March.

Prosecutors have said the defendants would be subject to removal proceedings if they were ever released from custody.

Authorities did not allege that every slaying was directly carried out by all three defendants on trial, but each of the men was accused in connection with multiple killings. Prosecutors have argued the slayings, in Nevada and California between 2017 and 2018, were committed on behalf of MS-13 to advance the defendants’ standing in the gang hierarchy.

Though each man was found guilty of playing a role in at least one killing, on some counts, jurors could not reach a decision.

They left blank on a verdict form counts related to the killing of 29-year-old Daniel Clark at an apartment complex on Triest Court, near East Bonanza Road and North Lamb Boulevard.

During the trial, cooperating witness Alexander De Jesus Figueroa-Torres testified about carrying out that killing, saying, “He screamed a lot because he didn’t want to die, but I kept shooting at him.”

Vargas-Escobar was accused of also participating in the slaying of Clark.

They found Reyes-Castillo guilty of killing Carlos Pachaca-Rodriguez and Arquimidez Sandoval-Martinez. Perez-Manchame was also accused of participating in the killing of Sandoval-Martinez, but jurors did not check either the guilty or not guilty box for him in relation to that slaying.

Asked to decide whether Perez-Manchame and Reyes-Castillo were guilty of killing Juan Carlos Estrada-Raya, jurors were again unable to decide and did not select guilty or not guilty for either defendant.

Jurors found both Reyes-Castillo and Vargas-Escobar guilty of murder in aid of racketeering for the 2017 death of Richard Gaudio.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.