Violent MS-13 Member Sentenced to 60 Years for Role in Multiple Triple Shootings

March 22, 2010- ALEXANDRIA, VA—Antonio Neftali Urrutia-Barrera, 20, of Reston, Virginia, was sentenced today to 720 months in prison, followed by a five-year term of supervised release, for his use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Shawn Henry, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office; Charles Dean, Chairman of the Board of Chiefs of the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force; Stephen Simpson, Sheriff of Loudoun County; and Colonel David Rohrer, Fairfax County Chief of Police, made the announcement after sentencing by United States District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee. Barrera had previously pled guilty on January 5, 2010.

According to court documents, Antonio Urrutia Barrera, a.k.a. “Duende” was a full member of the transnational Hispanic street gang Mara Salvatrucha Thirteen ("MS-13"), and as a member of MS-13, the defendant abided by certain gang rules that included attacking rival gang members and supporting or backing up fellow gang members. During his active membership with MS-13, the defendant engaged in multiple acts of violence on behalf of the gang. First, on September 17, 2008, in Loudoun County, Virginia, the defendant, while riding as a passenger in a vehicle with another MS-13 member, observed what he perceived to be rival gang members on the side of a suburban street. The defendant brandished a revolver and fired multiple shots out of the vehicle at the group of individuals. The defendant wounded three individuals, one of whom now remains paralyzed from the waist down.

On October 6, 2008, the defendant was present at a second, violent MS-13 attack that took place in Reston, Virginia. In this instance, the defendant, along with fellow MS-13 members Jose Aguilar Orantes and Dennis L. Gil Bernardez, approached two rival gang members in a suburban park during the middle of the day. The defendant and his two fellow gang members approached the two rivals and a third, unaffiliated bystander, at which point Dennis Bernardez began to shoot at the two rival gang members and finally at the third individual. Two of the victims, including the unaffiliated bystander, were critically injured and transported to Fairfax Hospital’s trauma center, each suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Both critically injured victims suffered permanent injuries.

In July 2009, Bernardez and Aguilar were tried and convicted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia for their roles in the October 6, 2008, triple shooting. Bernardez was sentenced to 80 years in prison, while Aguilar received 55 years.

This case was investigated by the Washington Field Office of the FBI, the Fairfax County Police Department, the Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force, and the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Patricia Haynes and Zach Terwilliger prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.