MS-13 Gang Members Sentenced for Attempted Murders in Virginia.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Four Northern Virginia MS-13 gang members are facing years in prison for various crimes, including two attempted murders in Prince William County in 2019.
Editor’s Note: Some of the details in this story are disturbing. Read with caution.
According to court documents, 23-year-old Roberto Cruz Moreno, 22-year-old Marvin Torres, 25-year-old Perez Sandoval and 32-year-old Jose Rosales Juarez were sentenced Wednesday.
Officials say Cruz Moreno was a “pasa de homeboy,” and Torres was a “chequeo,” both of which are soldiers in the Guanacos Lil Cycos (GLCS) clique of MS‑13. Sandoval was an “observacion,” which is a lower-level soldier and Rosales Juarez was a “paro,” which is an entry-level member.
In March 2019, Cruz Moreno picked up three other GLCS gang members and a victim. He then drove the group to an isolated wooded area in Bristow. One gang member then shot the victim multiple times while another stabbed the victim in the neck and attempted to slit his throat.
Court documents show that the gang members believed the victim had been disrespecting MS-13 and associated with a rival gang. Following the attack, Cruz Moreno left with the three other members and drove them to his home. About a month later, police found Cruz Moreno in possession of a firearm and several grams of packaged cocaine in his vehicle, along with three other GLCS gang members traveling with him in the vehicle. Cruz Moreno had earlier that day been selling cocaine on behalf of the clique.
In July 2019, Torres identified a rival gang member in GLCS‑controlled territory, giving pictures of the victim to fellow gang members.
According to court documents, Rosales Juarez watched the victim at a Manassas restaurant and talked about killing the victim with GLCS’s First Word, or leader, Andy Tovar, 33, of White Post.
Fairfax County Police say Tovar is considered to be one of the highest-ranking MS-13 members in the United States. Tovar gave permission to kill the victim and on Aug. 12, 2019 Perez Sandoval drove two others to get a gun, a mask and a change of clothes before heading back to the victim’s location where a gang member shot the victim.
Perez Sandoval then drove the associates from the scene of the shooting to Rosales Juarez’s residence. Rosales Juarez provided Perez Sandoval a different car to drive and rented a hotel room under his own name for the two other GLCS gang members involved in the attempted murder.
According to Fairfax County Police, Tovar pleaded guilty to each of the crimes with which he was charged on Feb. 4, 2022. He admitted to authorizing gang members to kill a victim who was stabbed over 140 times using knives and a machete before dumping the victim’s body in a creek and lighting his car on fire.
Tovaar was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes in Sept. 2022.
For their roles in the conspiracies, Cruz Moreno and Perez Sandoval were sentenced to 20 years in prison and Torres and Jose Rosales Juarez were sentenced to 10 years in prison.