A local leader in the international MS-13 gang, who is already serving a lengthy jail sentence, entered a guilty plea on Thursday for the murder of a man in Chelsea in 2010, according to the announcement made by federal authorities.
In a statement, the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Leah Foley, announced that Jose Vasquez, who is 31 years old, entered a guilty plea to a single count of violent crime in aid of racketeering. On June 30th, he will be given his punishment. A racketeering conspiracy, often known as RICO, conviction was handed down in 2018, and Vazquez is currently serving a jail sentence of 212 months, which is equivalent to 17 years and 8 months.
On the evening of December 18, 2010, at around 7:10 p.m., police officers responded to a 911 call that was placed under the Fifth Street on-ramp to Route 1 in Chelsea. At that location, they discovered a male who was 28 years old and had approximately ten stab wounds to his head, back, and chest. According to the office of Foley, the man was taken to a hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries and died there.
According to Foley’s office, a recent reexamination of material acquired during the investigation of the man’s death found that members of MS-13, including Vasquez, were contributing to the inquiry.
While he was a member of the Trece Locos Salvatrucha, or TLS, clique of MS-13 that was active in Somerville, he also served as the local leader of the group. He “personally participated in racketeering activity and acts of violence” on behalf of the gang, according to the prosecution’s official statement.
According to Foley’s office, Vasquez and other members of the gang conspired to kill the victim in the week leading up to the murder because they felt he was a member of a rival gang. This belief led them to carry out the conspiracy.
During the day of the murder, Vasquez and a few other individuals picked up the victim from a McDonald’s located in Allston and took him to a remote location in Chelsea that was located beneath the highway. After then, a member of MS-13 struck him in the head with a rock, and another member of the organization slashed him with a machete. It was determined that Vasquez had used a knife to stab the victim, and his palm print was detected on the handle of a kitchen knife that was discovered at the scene. In addition, the blood of the man was discovered on the knife, according to Foley’s office.
Investigators were able to get a video of a meeting that took place on January 27, 2011, approximately six weeks after the murder. During this meeting, a member of the MS-13 gang admitted to his involvement in the crime and was reprimanded for leaving Massachusetts after the murder without the approval of the gang. According to the state’s prosecutors, Vasquez was recognized as being present.
A term of up to life in prison is possible for those who are found guilty of committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering.
