INDIANAPOLIS -- Federal officers identified two men with Indianapolis ties as part of an indictment of 10 alleged members of the MS-13 criminal organization announced Tuesday.
The indictment centers around an alleged Columbus, Ohio, clique of the MS-13 gang – which federal officials described as “one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the United States today.”
"MS-13 members have killed children and pregnant women, extorted immigrant-owned businesses, and trafficked underage girls to sell them for sex,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a written statement.
The indictment alleges the 10 defendants – among them 32-year-old Jose Martin Neftali Aguilar-Rivera and 22-year-old Jose Manuel Romero-Parada, both of Indianapolis – conspired to commit extortion through the use of threatened or actual force, violence or fear to intimidate their victims into paying money to the defendants and their co-conspirators.
The Indy men (left to right): Jose Martin Nectaly Aguilar-Rivera, 32, and Jose Manuel Romero-Parada, 22. Romero-Parada remains a fugitive. pic.twitter.com/0CM4xN1ekE
— Jordan Fischer (@Jordan_RTV6) August 15, 2017
Much of that money was then sent through wire transfers to MS-13 members and associates in El Salvador.
In all, 15 alleged members of the MS-13 gang face federal charges from this investigation.
If found guilty, the 10 defendants under federal indictment could face up to 20 years in prison on each count of conspiracy to commit extortion and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Romero-Parada was initially reported as a fugitive from federal authorities. On Friday, the Department of Justice announced he had been taken into custody in New Jersey.
If you have information about any of the fugitive suspects, or the MS-13 gang itself, you are asked to call the FBI hotline at 614-849-1765. Callers may remain anonymous.
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