Ex-Member Of MS-13 Wore a Wire For Agents
Testimony Could Prove Global Ties

By Ruben Castaneda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 13, 2006

A former member of the violent street gang MS-13 revealed in federal court yesterday that he risked his life for nearly two years by working undercover for federal agents and police investigating the group.

Noe "Shorty" Cruz, 25, testified in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt that he wore a wire two or three times to gang meetings. During one of those meetings, gang members played a videotape showing two Prince George's County police officers and a federal agent and spoke of killing an officer, Cruz testified.

Cruz also said that he tipped off investigators about which gang members' homes should be raided, that MS-13 members robbed prostitution houses and that gang leaders sent money to MS-13 leaders in El Salvador.

He testified that he turned against the gang because MS-13 members murdered another member who was his friend. To maintain his cover and avoid being beaten, he said, he took part in a fight against rival gang members at a Hispanic festival in the District.

The testimony provided a detailed look at what prosecutors say are the gang's violent ways. Cruz, who began testifying Wednesday and could complete his testimony today, is one of the government's star witnesses in its efforts to prove MS-13 is an internationally-connected criminal enterprise, rather than a neighborhood street gang.

Cruz was accompanied to and from the witness stand by federal marshals.

During the past year, federal prosecutors indicted 22 alleged members of MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, on federal racketeering charges. The indictment accuses the gang of six homicides and four attempted murders between April 2003 and June 2005. Eight attacks were in Prince George's and two in Montgomery.

Cruz is testifying against the first two defendants to go on trial: Oscar Ramos "Casper" Velasquez, 21, of Baltimore and Edgar Alberto "Pony" Ayala, 29, of Suitland. Both defendants are charged with racketeering; neither is accused of homicide.

Cruz identified Ayala as a leader of an MS-13 clique.

Some of Cruz's most compelling testimony concerned a meeting on April 17, 2004, when Cruz viewed the videotape of the three law enforcement officers.

Federal prosecutors played parts of the audiotape from the meeting, which was conducted in Spanish. Jurors and defense attorneys were provided with transcripts translated into English.

Under direct examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra Wilkinson, Cruz explained what happened at the meeting, which was attended by more than a half-dozen MS-13 members, he said. The meeting took place in the apartment of Israel Ramos "Taylor" Cruz, whom Cruz (no relation) identified as an MS-13 leader.

At the meeting, one gang member lamented "that crazy vato loco is busting everybody," according to the transcript. Vato loco is Spanish slang for crazy guy. Cruz said this was a reference to county police Detective Felipe Ordoño, a gang investigator who was Cruz's handler. At the time, Ordoño was arresting many gang members, Cruz said.

There was talk of another officer, and one gang member said, "There's a lot of status for one of those cops, you know," according to the transcript. Cruz explained that whoever killed an officer would gain much respect within MS-13.

Someone turned on a TV, and a video was played. It showed Ordoño, Roberto Acevedo, who at the time was a county police officer, and Todd Okray, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, in the Langley Park area, Cruz said. Okray is the lead agent in the racketeering investigation.

No attempts on the lives of the three law enforcement officers have been reported.

Cruz testified that he joined MS-13 at 14 in his native El Salvador. He was initiated into the gang by being "jumped in," or beaten, by fellow gang members. He came to Maryland the same year and joined a local MS-13 clique, the Sailors, which entailed another initiation beating, Cruz said.

Cruz said that he became disenchanted with the gang after the Nov. 22, 2003, murder of friend and fellow gang member Randy "Fenix" Calderon in Montgomery County. Cruz said he learned at a gang meeting that Juan Carlos "Stokey" Moriera, also an MS-13 member, shot Calderon. Moriera is charged in the indictment.

At the meeting, gang leaders explained that Calderon was killed because he had fatally stabbed a rival gang member inside the Silver Spring apartment of an MS-13 leader, Cruz said. Gang members were not upset about the murder but were upset that Calderon did it inside the apartment of a gang leader, Cruz testified.

In December 2003, Cruz was charged with assaulting his girlfriend, a charge that was later dropped, Cruz said. After Cruz was released from jail, Ordoño visited him, and he began talking about gang activities because of the Calderon killing, Cruz said.

In August 2005, when federal agents and police arrested nearly two dozen MS-13 members under an indictment, Cruz said he was picked up, too, to maintain his cover. He testified that the government has relocated him.