Baltimore, MARYLAND – MS-13 gang member, Gilmer Hernandez-Alvarado, a/k/a “Toro,” 27, recently pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to extort business owners in Hyattsville, Maryland.
The guilty plea was announced by U.S. District Attorney for the District of Maryland, Eric L. Baron announced. FBI Chief Wayne Jacobs – Washington Field Office Criminal Division; Chief Malik Aziz of the Prince George’s County Police Department; and Chief Marcus Jones of the Montgomery County Police Department.
La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13 gang (“MS-13”), is an international criminal organization that operates throughout the United States, including in Maryland. In Maryland, MS-13 is organized into “cliques,” small groups that operate in a specific area. Hernandez-Alvarado was a member of the Fulton Clique of MS-13.
According to Hernandez-Alvarado’s guilty plea, MS-13 generated revenue from a variety of sources, including extorting money from businesses, such as unlicensed businesses that operated in MS-13 territory. From at least February 2018 to December 2020, Hernandez-Alvarado and other MS-13 members conspired to extort money or extort payments from Langley Park, Maryland business owners through threats of violence. Each week, Hernández-Alvarado and his associates demanded rent payments from business owners operating in MS-13-controlled territory and threatened to harm the business owners if rent was not paid.
Hernandez-Alvarado faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the robbery conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang has scheduled a sentencing hearing for December 5, 2022 at 2:00 p.m.
United States Attorney Eric L. Baron thanked the FBI, the Prince George’s County Police Department and the Montgomery County Police Department for their work in the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica C. Collins and Chris M. Sarma, who are prosecuting the case.
For more information about the Maryland US Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and the resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md And https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.
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