A Salvadoran national who admitted helping cover up a brutal MS-13 killing in Frederick County has been handed a seven-year federal prison sentence, capping one chapter of a grim gang case that shocked the region.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson sentenced 26-year-old Jose Ramos Lopez, who had been living in Frederick, to seven years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Ramos Lopez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise tied to the killing.
Prosecutors said Ramos Lopez was an active MS-13 member who distributed marijuana, sent drug money up the ladder to gang leadership, and collected extortion payments from local brothels to benefit the organization, according to WBFF/FOX45. Although he was not at the scene when the victim was attacked, prosecutors said he arrived afterward to help clean up, dispose of clothing and weapons, and hide evidence of the crime.
How prosecutors say the killing unfolded
The killing took place on February 24, 2023, when MS-13 members allegedly lured the victim from an apartment complex to a wooded area under the pretense of smoking marijuana, according to prosecutors. "Investigators eventually recovered portions of the victim's body from two burial sites near Mink Farm Road in Thurmont, Maryland," WBFF/FOX45 reported.
Law enforcement also found a blood trail, blood-stained rocks, and bags containing bloody clothing and a knife in a nearby dumpster, court records show. Those discoveries helped investigators piece together the sequence of events that led from the initial ambush to the grim burial sites off Mink Farm Road.
Federal crackdown in Maryland
Federal authorities have repeatedly zeroed in on MS-13 cliques operating in Maryland, including in Frederick County and across the wider region. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland has leaned on racketeering charges, along with Project Safe Neighborhoods and OCDETF strategies, to go after MS-13, securing long prison terms in several recent prosecutions, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Related prosecutions in Frederick
Ramos Lopez's sentence is part of a broader federal investigation into MS-13's footprint in the Frederick area. Other defendants charged in related indictments linked to the February 2023 killing have either pleaded guilty or remain in the court pipeline, The Frederick News-Post reported.
Local reporting has detailed plea agreements and court filings that trace physical evidence from the original crime scene to the burial sites near Mink Farm Road, offering a road map of how investigators tied multiple defendants to the killing.
Legal notes
Ramos Lopez admitted to conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, a federal charge commonly used in RICO-style prosecutions of organized gangs. Sentences in such cases can vary significantly depending on a defendant's specific conduct and role, and the U.S. Attorney's Office has repeatedly brought this type of count against alleged MS-13 members in Maryland, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
