13 alleged gang members indicted on murder, racketeering and other crimes
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SAN FRANCISCO - More than a dozen alleged members and associates of an MS-13 "clique" in San Francisco are facing charges related to gang-related killings and racketeering, according to federal prosecutors.
The 13 defendants are the subject of a recently unsealed federal grand jury indictment that includes nearly 30 charges for 15 alleged "acts of violence - including murders, attempted murders and assaults," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced Monday.
The indictment claims the defendants are responsible for three murders as part of the gang's "20th Street clique," according to prosecutors.
One of the killings, which took place outside the Beauty Bar in San Francisco's Mission District in March 2017, was of a man the defendants thought was a rival gang member and is alleged to have been ordered by Elmer Rodriguez, according to court filings.
Another killing a couple months later was allegedly of a fellow 20th Street clique member, also allegedly ordered by Rodriguez. Prosecutors say the victim was attacked by a machete-wielding Edwin Alvarado Amaya over the victim's violation of gang rules.
A third killing was of another suspected rival gang member, in February 2018 in the parking lot of the Gray Whale Cove Trail in Pacifica, according to the indictment.
The victim was allegedly shot and stabbed to death by Kevin Reyes Melendez and Jose Maria Tercero Perez, with help from other gang members.
The indictment, dated Nov. 4, describes other non-fatal attacks and attempted murders by other alleged gang members that took place, along with the killings, over the course of several years in and around San Francisco.