MS-13 Member Sentenced to 97 Months in Prison for Racketeering Conspiracy

BOSTON – An MS-13 member was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for racketeering conspiracy.

Modesto Ramirez, a/k/a “Snoopy,” 28, a Honduran national, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 97 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Ramirez will also be subject to deportation proceedings upon completion of his sentence.  In May 2018, Ramirez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO or racketeering conspiracy.

After a multi-year investigation, Ramirez was one of dozens of leaders, members, and associates of MS-13 named in a superseding indictment unsealed in January 2016 that targeted MS-13’s criminal activities in Massachusetts. According to court documents, MS-13 members in Massachusetts engaged in a variety of racketeering acts and crimes of violence, including six different murders between October 2014 and January 2016, as well as numerous attempted murders and conspiracies to commit murder.

Ramirez was a member of the Trece Locos Salvatrucha or TLS clique of MS-13. The racketeering evidence against Ramirez included a recording made by a cooperating witness in which Ramirez discussed his intention and willingness to kill a gang rival.

Many other members of the TLS clique were also prosecuted as part of this case. In total, 49 defendants have been convicted as part of this ongoing prosecution. Of the 49 convictions, 40 were the result of guilty pleas like in the case of Ramirez, while nine others were convicted after trial.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Commissioner Thomas Turco of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections; Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger; Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Thompkins; Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; Middlesex County District Attorney Marian T. Ryan; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett; Boston Police Commissioner William Gross; Chelsea Police Chief Brian A. Kyes; Everett Police Chief Steven A. Mazzie; Lynn Police Chief Michael Mageary; Revere Police Chief James Guido; and Somerville Police Chief David Fallon made the announcement today.