BALTIMORE — A third MS-13 member was sentenced on Tuesday to life in federal prison.
Jose Rafael Ortega-Ayala, 30, aka ‘Impaciente’, was convicted for racketeering and murder in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to conceal evidence and a slew of other charges, connected to his involvement with La Mara Salvatrucha also known as MS-13.
A jury found Ortega-Ayala and two other co-defenders guilty in December 2022. He was a member of the ‘Los Ghettos Criminales Salvatrucha’ branch within MS-13. All members are expected to uphold the name, reputation, and status of the gang at all times. Using any means necessary to force respect from outsiders. Those means will be used on anyone, even those within the organization.
On March 8, 2019, the leader of The LGCS branch, Jose Domingo Ordonez-Zometa, called a meeting at his house to discuss gang matters. Confronting one of the members believed to be consorting with the police was on that night’s meeting agenda. Ordonez-Zometa questioned the victim based on incorrect suspicions. When another member attempted to defend the victim they were brutally assaulted by the other members in attendance that night.
Following the assault of that member, Ordonez-Zometa ordered the victim be killed for alleged disloyalty. Ortega-Ayala and other members then stabbed and killed the victim in Ordonez-Zometa’s basement.
According to trial testimony, Ordonez-Zometa then ordered the members to get rid of the body and destroy all evidence connected to the murder. Ortega-Ayala and other members took the victim’s body into the woods and set it on fire. They also torched the car used to transport the body to the woods.
Ordonez-Zometa has already been sentenced to life in federal prison.
MS-13 is one of the largest street gangs in the United States. The organization is both a national and international crime ring composed of immigrants or descendants from El Salvador and other Central American countries. Anyone with information about MS-13 is encouraged to provide their tips to law enforcement. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations both have nationwide tiplines that you can call to report what you know. You can reach the FBI at 1-866-STP-MS13 (1-866-787-6713), or you can call HSI at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.