ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Douglas Duran Cerritos, 20, of Falls Church, was sentenced to life in prison today for his role in an MS-13 gang murder in Northern Virginia in 2014.
According to court records and evidence presented at trial, on March 29, 2014, Cerritos and six other gang members murdered Gerson Adoni Martinez Aguilar, a gang recruit, for breaking gang rules. The gang members lured the victim to Holmes Run Park and brutally killed him by stabbing him repeatedly in the back and the neck, ultimately severing his head. When they were done they buried him in a shallow grave in the park. Cerritos was their leader, and he both planned and directed the murder.
A total of 13 defendants were charged in this case for a series of three murders and one attempted murder that took place in Northern Virginia between October 2013 and June 2014. Of those, six defendants pleaded guilty prior to trial. Six went to trial and were convicted of all charges on May 9. Cerritos went to trial separately and was convicted on September 22. Each defendant convicted at trial was sentenced to a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Please see the table at the end of this press release for additional information on each defendant.
Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Paul M. Abbate, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office; Colonel Edwin C. Roessler Jr., Chief of Fairfax County Police Department; Earl L. Cook, Chief of Alexandria City Police Department; and Barry M. Barnard, Chief of Prince William County Police Department, made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julia K. Martinez and Tobias D. Tobler are prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 1:14-cr-306.
Name
Age, Hometown
Charges Convicted of
Sentencing Info
Pedro Anthony Romero Cruz
30, unknown
Conspiracy to Commit Murder in Aid of Racketeering; Possession of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence
30 years
Jose Lopez Torres
26, Falls Church
Conspiracy, Attempted, and Murder in Aid of Racketeering; Possession of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence
Life sentence plus 20 years
Jaime Rosales Villegas
31, Richmond
Conspiracy and Attempted Murder in Aid of Racketeering; Possession of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence
22 years and 8 months
Juan Carlos Marquez Ayala
23, Falls Church
Murder in Aid of Racketeering
Life sentence
Omar Dejesus Castillo
27, Arlington
Two Counts of Murder in Aid of Racketeering
Two life sentences
Alvin Gaitan Benitez
23, Falls Church
Murder in Aid of Racketeering, Accessory After the Fact
Life sentence plus 15 years
Christian Lemus Cerna
20, Falls Church
Murder in Aid of Racketeering
Life sentence
Araely Santiago Villanueva
20, Falls Church
Two Counts of Murder in Aid of Racketeering
Life sentence
Manuel Ernesto Paiz Guevara
21, Falls Church
Murder in Aid of Racketeering
Life sentence
Jose Del Cid
20, Alexandria
Two Counts of Murder in Aid of Racketeering
Two life sentences
Jesus Alejandro Chavez
26, Alexandria
Murder in Aid of Racketeering; Use of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence Resulting in Death; Felon in Possession of a Firearm
Two life sentences plus 10 years
Genaro Sen Garcia
21, unknown
Murder in Aid of Racketeering
Life sentence
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
