MS-13 Leader Found Guilty in Md. Case

Racketeering Activities Included Murder

A reputed leader of the MS-13 street gang was found guilty yesterday of participating in a murderous conspiracy that used violence and intimidation to entrench the gang's power in Maryland.

Israel Palacios, 31, of Silver Spring is the latest MS-13 figure to be convicted in a sweeping federal case that has charged 30 people under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO.

The statute has been used for decades to prosecute members of criminal enterprises, and in recent years federal prosecutors have sought to use it against increasingly organized Latino gangs in the Washington area and elsewhere in the United States.

For all the advantages the law affords prosecutors, particularly at sentencing, the RICO statute also imposes additional hurdles, including a requirement to show that the enterprise is an organization with a structure and hierarchy.

The jurors in the Palacios trial deliberated for six days before reaching their verdicts, which were delivered yesterday morning at the federal courthouse in Greenbelt.

Sitting next to his attorneys, Peter Goldman and John Kiyonaga, Palacios listened to an interpreter as the jury foreman answered "guilty" to a string of charges, starting with conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise.

The jury found that the racketeering activities included first-degree murder, attempted murder, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.

It also found Palacios guilty of murder in aid of racketeering and other charges in connection with the 2004 slaying of a woman who was suspected of secretly cooperating with police.

Nancy Diaz was shot to death in an Adelphi cemetery after members of MS-13 brought her and a friend there, supposedly to drink and socialize. Palacios was not present for the attack, but prosecutors introduced evidence that Palacios was at a meeting the previous day when plans to kill Diaz were discussed.

Diaz's friend, Alyssa Tran, who was 15, was shot in the face and stabbed in the chest in the attack. She survived, after pretending to be dead. In the trial, Tran testified for the government, recounting her near-fatal encounter with MS-13.

The jury, however, acquitted Palacios of two charges in connection with the assault on Tran. No evidence was introduced indicating any discussion of Tran during the meeting about Diaz.

Jeffrey Villatoro, the MS-13 member who Tran said shot her, was prosecuted in state court and sentenced to life in prison. The U.S. attorney's office has declined to say whether charges have been or will be filed against Jesus Canales, the MS-13 member who Tran said stabbed her.

The Palacios case, which was tried by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chan Park and Justice Department trial attorney David Jaffe, marks another prosecutorial victory in the crackdown against MS-13.

U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein, who was in the courtroom for the verdict, said afterward that the RICO statute is an important element of the government's anti-gang efforts.

The prospect of a long prison sentence such as the one that can come with a racketeering conviction, even for low-level members, is a powerful deterrent, Rosenstein said.

In a statement, Sheree L. Mixell, acting head of the Baltimore office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said: "We wish to send a consistent message that when people choose to join a violent gang, they will be held accountable for its actions -- no excuses."

Kiyonaga, one of the defense lawyers, said afterward that he was disappointed with the verdict and promised a vigorous appeal.

Palacios faces a maximum of life in prison. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow set sentencing for Nov. 10.