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MS-13 gang members convicted in Boston racketeering, drug trial

BOSTON (Reuters) - Four MS-13 members in Massachusetts who were arrested in a 2016 crackdown that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has called an example of how authorities should tackle the violent gang were convicted of federal charges on Monday.

A federal jury in Boston found Herzzon Sandoval, Edwin Guzman and Erick Argueta Larios guilty of conspiring to engage in a racketeering enterprise in the second trial to result from a gang takedown that led to 61 people being indicted.

Jurors acquitted Cesar Martinez, 37, of that charge, but convicted him of conspiring to distribute cocaine, a charge that carries a mandatory minimum prison term of five years. Jurors acquitted Larios, 33, of a similar drug charge.

Martin Murphy, Sandoval's lawyer, said he plans to appeal. Other defense lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

MS-13 started in Los Angeles in the 1980s. It has grown into an organization with leadership in El Salvador that the U.S. Justice Department says has 30,000 members worldwide and 10,000 in the United States.


Source :- yahoonews

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