Oscar Diaz Romero, also known as Oscar Alonzo Salguero, was sentenced on July 16 to 24 years in prison for the shooting deaths of Jose Roberto Molina and Jose Noel Coreas in August 1997, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. Diaz Romero, age 47 and a national of El Salvador, was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder on March 25, 2026. Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman ordered that after serving his prison term, Diaz Romero will be subject to three years of supervised probation.
U.S. Attorney Pirro said, “Nearly thirty years after fleeing justice, Oscar Diaz Romero’s day of reckoning has come. Let this be clear: if you commit murder in our community and attempt to escape accountability, my office will never rest until you are brought to justice. Today’s sentencing affirms that violent acts against our residents will be met with consequences.”
According to government evidence presented at trial, the incident occurred during the early morning hours of August 9, 1997, at the then-Las Rocas restaurant located on the second floor in the 2400 block of 18th Street NW. Just before 2 a.m., a group entered the restaurant and began fighting with Diaz Romero and several friends. During the altercation, Diaz Romero pulled out a revolver and fired several times; one round struck and killed Jose Molina—a father of two—while another hit and killed Jose Coreas as he celebrated his twenty-second birthday.
After fleeing the scene to El Salvador following the shootings, Diaz Romero remained outside U.S. jurisdiction until his arrest there in 2024. He was extradited back to the United States in January 2025, where he has been held since.
Interim Chief Jeffery Carroll of the Metropolitan Police Department joined U.S. Attorney Pirro in announcing the sentence and commended investigators from their department for their work on this case. Assistant United States Attorneys Dennis Clark and Richard Carlton prosecuted.