MIAMI, FL – Nine gang members associated with the MS-13 terrorist organization have been charged, and some have already convicted, authorities announced.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced that FBI Miami, Broward Sheriff’s Office (BSO), and other law enforcement worked in partnership to solve four local homicides connected to the MS-13 gang, a transnational criminal organization and recognized terrorist group.

So far, the law enforcement collaboration has led to federal indictments in the Southern District of Florida charging murder in aid of racketeering activity; convictions that carry mandatory life sentences for six MS-13 members and associates; and pending charges against three defendants facing the death penalty.

The Investigation:

Beginning in 2015, BSO Homicide Unit detectives investigated two murders that took place in a small area of Oakland Park, Florida, appeared to be gang related, and were carried out using knives or machetes:

O.G., 18. On January 7, 2015, BSO detectives found the body of O.G. in Oakland Park, Florida. O.G. was 18 years old when he was killed by machete strikes to his head and neck.

C.O., 25. On October 19, 2015, BSO detectives responded to the scene of a stabbing in Oakland Park, Florida. They found 25-year-old C.O. in an alleyway. He had been stabbed many times in the neck and chest. C.O. was taken to the hospital but died soon after getting there.

Investigative leads on the two cases went cold in about 2016. In 2020, the BSO Cold Case Unit reopened the unsolved homicides and partnered with FBI Miami and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (the investigative team). They learned of two additional murders with similarities to the ones BSO had reopened:

G.V.P., 22. On May 3, 2015, the body of G.V.P. was discovered in a vacant lot in Palm Beach, Florida. G.V.P. was 22 years old when he was stabbed repeatedly in the face, neck, torso, and groin. He was also shot in the head. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, which was handling that case, collaborated with the investigative team.

J.C.L., 18. In May 2021, the investigative team discovered the body of victim J.C.L. after an extensive, multi-day excavation in Oakland Park, Florida. He had been punched, kicked, stabbed to death, and buried in a makeshift grave. J.C.L. was 18 years old when his family reported him missing.

Through investigative techniques and modern technologies, the team pieced together evidence showing that MS-13 was responsible for the four homicides.

The Federal Prosecutions:

The team secured federal indictments in two cases in the Southern District of Florida related to these MS-13 murders: the July 2022 federal criminal case against six defendants and the March 2025 federal criminal case against three defendants.

In the 2022 case, all six defendants have been convicted of murder in aid of racketeering activity:

Andy Tovar (a/k/a “Fearless”) pled guilty to two counts of murder in aid of racketeering activity. Tovar, an MS-13 gang leader, approved the murder of victim O.G., and participated in victim G.V.P.’s murder in 2015 – including shooting him in the eye.

Tovar has been sentenced to life in prison.

Wilson Tirado-Silva (a/k/a “Sombra”) pled guilty to four charges of murder in aid of racketeering activity for his role in: the 2014 stabbing murder of victim J.C.L., the 2015 murder by machete of victim O.G., the 2015 stabbing and gunshot murder of victim G.V.P., and the 2015 stabbing murder of victim C.O. Tirado-Silva was a local MS-13 leader responsible for growing the gang in South Florida. He took MS-13 recruits on kills as part of gang initiation.

Tirado-Silva faces a mandatory life sentence.

Miguel Angel Cabrera-Granados (a/k/a “Mariachi”) pled guilty to one count of murder in aid of racketeering activity. He participated in the 2014 stabbing murder of victim J.C.L. to gain gang membership credit.

Cabrera-Granados faces a mandatory life sentence.

Melvin David Cruz-Ortiz (a/k/a “Bigfoot”) pled guilty to three counts of murder in aid of racketeering activity for his role in the 2014 stabbing murder of victim J.C.L., the 2015 stabbing and gunshot murder of victim G.V.P., and the 2015 stabbing murder of victim C.O. Cruz-Ortiz committed the murders to gain gang membership credit.

Cruz-Ortiz faces a mandatory life sentence.

Kevin Ricardo Gamez-Melendez (a/k/a “Ardilla”) pled guilty to one count of murder in aid of racketeering activity for his role in the 2015 stabbing and gunshot murder of victim G.V.P.

Gamez-Melendez faces a mandatory life sentence.

Wilber Geovanni Vigil-Benitez (a/k/a “Solitario”) was convicted by a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida earlier this year for murder in aid of racketeering. The jury found Vigil-Benitez guilty for his role in the 2015 stabbing and gunshot murder of victim G.V.P.

Vigil-Benitez faces a mandatory life sentence.

In the March 2025 case, three defendants are charged with murder in aid of racketeering activity in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1959, in connection with the MS-13 stabbing and gunshot killing of victim G.V.P. They are all in federal custody:

• Jose Ezequiel Gamez-Maravilla (a/k/a “Chango”)
• Hugo Adiel Bermudez-Martinez (a/k/a “Blue”)
• Wilber Rosendo Navarro-Escobar (a/k/a “Power”)

The three defendants, whose cases are pending, face a mandatory minimum sentence of life in prison and a maximum sentence of death. The indictment against them is an accusation and they are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

“Nine MS-13 terrorists have been taken off our streets and four cold murder cases have been solved thanks to the great investigative work of the FBI and our law enforcement partners,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Let this be a lesson: no matter how long it takes, we will never give up in our pursuit of justice.”

The U.S. Department of Justice has stated that MS-13 is a violent transnational gang composed primarily of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador that operates throughout parts of the United States.

MS-13 is a recognized terrorist organization, authorities said.