Alleged MS-13 gang members charged in 4 2019 fatal shootings in Dumfries, Woodbridge

Twelve alleged MS-13 gang members – including  eight from Woodbridge and Manassas – were indicted Thursday on multiple charges, including murder in connection with their alleged involvement in four Prince William County killings between June and September 2019.

A federal grand jury returned a “superseding indictment” on Thursday, Jan. 6 for the 12 defendants based on their involvement in racketeering, drug trafficking and a “series of murders,” according to a news release issued by U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber of the Eastern District of Virginia.

According to the indictment, the defendants were members or associates of the “Sitios Locos Salvatrucha” clique, also known as STLS, of MS-13, which has operated in Northern Virginia for the past several years, the release said.

The indictment alleges that since at least 2017, the defendants and their associates regularly traveled to and from Long Island, New York, to obtain cocaine and transport it to the Washington, D.C. area, where they and other gang members sold it primarily in restaurants and night clubs, the release said.

The indictment charged seven of the defendants with offenses stemming from their alleged involvement in four fatal Prince William County shootings that occurred in Woodbridge and Dumfries area between June 22 and Sept. 24, 2019. 

Mario Antonio Guevara Rivera, 26, Cristian Ariel Arevalo Arias, 26, and Carlos Jose Turcios Villatoro, 23, all of Woodbridge, were charged in connection with the June 2019 killings of Jairo Mayorga, 39, and Milton Lopez, 40, both of Woodbridge, the release said.

The men's bodies were discovered by a local resident on Saturday, June 22, 2019, in a wooded area off the 1500 block of Featherstone Road, according to Prince William County police.

Melvin Canales Saldana, 29, of New York, and Manilester Andrade Rivas, 32, of Woodbridge, were charged in connection with the August 29, 2019, fatal shooting of Eric Lanier Tate II, 25, of Woodbridge. 

Tate was found in the area of Bel Air and Jeffries roads in Woodbridge at 1:06 a.m., after officers responded to reports of shots fired, according to Prince William County police. 

Guevara, Abner Jose Molina Rodriguez, 24, of Woodbridge, and Jairo Gustavo Aguilera Sagastizado, 26, of New York, were charged in connection with the Sept. 24, 2019, fatal shooting of Antonio Kaoul Smith, 37, of Dumfries. 

Smith was found in the roadway on Chesapeake Drive in Dumfries, suffering from a gunshot wound, according to police.

Other defendants charged in the indictment included:

• Walter Jeovanny Rubio Lemus, 27, of Woodbridge
• Karen Estefany Figueroa Alfaro, 29, of Woodbridge
• Juan Manuel Vasquez Reyes, 40, of Manassas
• Marvin Menjivar Gutiérrez, 29, of New York
• Juan Carlos Hernández Landaverde, 23, of Annandale

The defendants face various charges, including: racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, accessory after the fact to murder in aid of racketeering, witness tampering, using a firearm during a crime of violence causing death, possessing a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, and violations of the controlled substances act, among other crimes. 

The statutory penalties for the offenses range from a maximum of 10 years in prison to capital punishment, the release said.

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, the release said.