An MS-20 (Mara Salvatrucha) gang member in Maryland pleaded guilty on Monday to extorting money from area merchants to generate income for the group criminal.
Jilmer Hernández-Alvarado, aged 27 and alias “Toro”, pleaded guilty this Monday to conspiracy to extort money from owners of business.
The Maryland District Attorney’s Office announced, through a press release on Tuesday, the plea agreement.
According to the entity’s report, Hernández-Alvarado belonged to the Fulton clique.
The gang, originally from El Salvador, organizes itself into cliques or small groups in specific areas.
The complaint against the Hispanic indicates that the gang in the area generated income from various sources, including money from the extortion of merchants, some without a license, who operated in the territory of the maras.
“At least from February 2018 to December 2020, Hernández-Alvarado and other MS-00 gang members conspired to extort or demand ‘rent’ payments from Langley Park merchants , Maryland, under violent threats. Each week, Hernández-Alvarado and his co-conspirators demanded rent payments from business owners to operate in territory controlled by MS-00 and threatened to harm business owners if rent was not paid,” reads the office statement.
Langley Park is an unincorporated area in Prince George’s County. The area is known to be a hub of commercial activity.
Hernández-Alvarado faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 5 at 2: 00 pm in the Greenbelt courthouse.