Edwin Chavez-Garay and Jairo Diaz-Gamez, both alleged members of the Vegas Locos Salvatruchas subgroup of MS-13, were arraigned in federal court in Central Islip on Aug. 4 on a second superseding indictment charging them with racketeering offenses connected to two murders: the 2016 killing of Miguel Garcia-Moran in Brentwood, New York, and the 2023 murder of Carlos Lemus Interiano in Fort Washington, Maryland. The indictment also includes charges related to murder conspiracy and narcotics trafficking.
The superseding indictment was returned by a federal grand jury on July 30 and contains additional allegations against six previously charged defendants who are also alleged MS-13 members. United States Magistrate Judge Anne Y. Shields ordered both Chavez-Garay and Diaz-Gamez detained pending trial.
United States Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr., Acting Special Agent in Charge Pete Gizas of Homeland Security Investigations New York, FBI Assistant Director James C. Barnacle, Jr., and Suffolk County Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina announced the arrests and charges. Nocella said, “The charges in the Superseding Indictment demonstrate the commitment by our Office and our law enforcement partners to hold vicious transnational organized crime groups like MS-13 accountable for their crimes, no matter how long it takes.”
According to court documents, Chavez-Garay and Diaz-Gamez are accused of luring Garcia-Moran—a 15-year-old boy they wrongly believed was part of a rival gang—into woods behind Emjay Boulevard where he was beaten to death with metal rods. His remains were found months later during an unrelated search by FBI agents and Suffolk County police officers. Years after this incident, prosecutors allege that Chavez-Garay and Diaz-Gamez drove Lemus Interiano from Huntington, New York to Maryland where he was shot dead after falling out of favor with the gang.
The indictment further alleges that between late 2023 and March 2025 they participated in a conspiracy leading to another murder on Long Island targeting Carlos Lopez-Lopez for suspected cooperation with law enforcement; three co-defendants have already been charged for that crime. Both men are also charged with conspiring to distribute cocaine and marijuana as part of street-level sales used to fund criminal operations including weapons purchases.
Federal officials stated that these prosecutions are part of Operation Take Back America—a Department of Justice initiative focused on dismantling transnational criminal organizations—and form part of broader efforts under Executive Order 14159 establishing interagency collaboration through the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF). The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Megan E. Farrell and Paul G. Scotti from the Long Island Division’s Criminal Section.