Federal prosecutors detail how the MS-13 gang's Fulton clique enforced brutal initiation rituals requiring murders, leading to a series of gruesome killings in the Angeles National Forest. The trial of four alleged members, including Angel Guzman and Edgar Velasquez, exposes internal gang dynamics and accusations of relying on cooperating witnesses with criminal histories.
The ongoing federal racketeering trial in Los Angeles has placed the violent practices of the MS-13 gang under a relentless spotlight, revealing a chilling shift in the gang's local operations.
Prosecutors assert that the Fulton clique, a particularly brutal subset based in the San Fernando Valley, adopted stringent 'Salvadoran rules' mandating that aspiring members commit murder to achieve the status of full-fledged 'homeboy.
' This policy transformed isolated areas like the Angeles National Forest into stages for extreme brutality, as alleged in the case against four men on trial. The prosecution's narrative hinges on the 2017 killing of Juan Jose Sibrian, a victim described as being targeted for alleged gang rule violations and drug addiction.
According to statements from Assistant U.S. Attorney Suria Bahadue, members lured Sibrian to a location, incapacitated him, and transported him to the forest where a frenzied attack with machetes and knives ensued. The indictment alleges that Angel Guzman not only participated in the stabbing but then extracted Sibrian's heart, an act of symbolic violence that prosecutors say earned his clique a promotion from their alleged shot caller, Edgar Velasquez, known as 'Snoopy.
' The defense has vigorously challenged the government's case, arguing the absence of physical evidence like fingerprints or DNA directly linking the defendants to the crime scene. Attorney James Tedford, representing Guzman, dismissed the prosecution's reliance on testimony from MS-13 cooperators who have pleaded guilty in exchange for potential leniency, labeling them 'a bunch of liars just trying to get out of jail.
' Similarly, Velasquez's counsel, Kenneth Miller, pointed to a lack of direct communication evidence, such as phone records, placing his client at the center of ordering the specific murder. This trial is a critical component of a larger 2019 indictment that previously resulted in convictions against five other individuals for six killings. The current proceedings concentrate on three 2017 murders intended to illustrate the lethal consequences of the Fulton clique's adoption of the Salvadoran protocols.
The gang's use of remote mountain roads and forest trails provided the secrecy needed for these acts, which prosecutors argue were designed to cement the gang's territorial control and internal hierarchy through terror. The case continues to unravel the complex interplay between alleged high-level directives and the ground-level atrocities committed by gang members, painting a portrait of an organization that systematically weaponized violence for recruitment and command
MS-13 Salvadoran Rules Angeles National Forest Fulton Clique Racketeering
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