Three MS-13 gang members who pled guilty to killing a man on a bus in 2010 because they thought wrongly that he was in a rival gang, have been sentenced to 27 years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer sentenced Davie “Loco” Mejia-Sensente, 31, Carlos “Sleepy” Mejia-Quintanilla, 25, and Luis “Trucha” Amilar-Zanas, 35, to prison based on guilty pleas to conspiracy, racketeering that included murder and use of a firearm.
The three were members of the international gang known as La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, which has chapters in the U.S. and El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico.
One of the principal rules of MS-13 requires members to seek out and kill rival gang members, according to the government. One such rival is the Nortenos Gang, which has roots in Northern California.
In June 2010, the three member saw Alexander Temaj-Castanon board a San Francisco to Daly City bus they were riding. The believed he was a member of the Nortenos and agreed to kill him.
Amilar-Zanas left a backpack with a loaded gun for the other two when he left the bus. Mejia-Quintanilla used the gun to shoot and kill Temaj twice . He later died. Temaj was not affiliated with any gang, according to the government.
Case: U.S. v. Mejia-Sensente, No. CR11-293.
TrialInsider.com 