MS-13 Members Convicted — Victim’s Heart Cut Out

A federal jury has convicted five MS‑13 members in Los Angeles of a string of machete killings, including a case where prosecutors say a victim’s heart was carved out to help gang members “climb the ladder” inside the organization.

Story Snapshot

Federal prosecutors successfully argued that five MS‑13 members carried out six Southern California murders, extortion, and narcotics trafficking as part of a racketeering enterprise.
One of the most disturbing allegations centers on the 2017 killing of Juan Jose Sibrian in the Angeles National Forest, where prosecutors claim his heart was cut out with a machete and his remains thrown over a canyon edge.
The government tied the killings to so‑called “Salvadoran rules,” under which aspiring recruits had to commit murder to become full‑fledged members.
The convictions come from a sprawling racketeering case that began with a 2019 indictment targeting nearly two dozen MS‑13 members and associates for multiple murders in the Angeles National Forest and surrounding areas.
Law enforcement officials describe MS‑13 as a transnational criminal organization involved in drug trafficking, extortion, weapons trafficking, rape, kidnapping, and other violent crimes across the United States.

Jury Finds Five MS‑13 Members Guilty of Six Machete Murders

A Los Angeles federal jury has found five members of the MS‑13 street gang guilty of committing a string of six grisly machete killings across Southern California, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.^[1]^[2] The verdict is part of a broader racketeering case in which prosecutors argued that the gang used extreme violence to advance members’ status, intimidate rivals, and enforce internal “Salvadoran rules” that required recruits to kill in order to become full‑fledged “homeboys.”^[1]^[2] In the Angeles National Forest in 2017, authorities say Angel Guzman killed and hacked up the body of Juan Jose Sibrian, carving out his heart and tossing the remains over the edge of a canyon, a detail prosecutors emphasized as both a ritualistic and terroristic act.^[1]

The five convicted defendants are among a larger group of MS‑13 members and associates targeted in a 2019 federal indictment that originally accused nearly two dozen people of involvement in seven Southern California murders, many carried out with machetes in isolated mountain areas.^[1]^[3] Prosecutors framed the killings as predicate acts in a racketeering enterprise, alleging that local leaders such as Edgar Velasquez, identified as a “corredor” or shot caller, ordered the gang to adopt the same rules and hierarchy used by MS‑13’s leadership in El Salvador.^[1]^[2] Under that structure, Velasquez allegedly decided who lived, who died, who received credit for a murder, and who earned promotion within the gang.^[1] The government’s case also ties the defendants to narcotics trafficking and extortion, portraying MS‑13 as a structured criminal organization rather than a loose network of individual offenders.^[2]

The jury’s verdicts mark the latest chapter in a years‑long federal crackdown on MS‑13, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government and is widely documented as an international criminal group engaged in drug trafficking, human trafficking, weapons trafficking, murder, rape, assault, kidnapping, identification theft, prostitution, robbery, auto theft, extortion, and vandalism.^[2] Federal prosecutors have repeatedly brought racketeering and violent‑crime‑in‑aid‑of‑racketeering cases against MS‑13, alleging that killings were carried out to advance rank, send messages to rivals, and enforce internal discipline.^[1]^[2] In this Los Angeles case, the heart‑carving allegation and other graphic details were used to underscore the gang’s ritualized use of violence and its threat to community safety.^[1]

“Salvadoran Rules” and the Ritualistic Heart‑Carving Allegation

Central to the prosecution’s narrative was the claim that MS‑13’s local leaders adopted “Salvadoran rules,” requiring aspiring members to commit murder in order to become full‑fledged members and climb the hierarchy within the gang.^[1]^[2] Prosecutors argued that these rules were not just local customs but directives tied to the gang’s leadership in El Salvador, which had previously brought the country to its knees through extortion, kidnapping, and homicide.^[2]^[4] The government presented the killings in the Angeles National Forest and surrounding areas as part of a deliberate strategy to elevate members’ status, instill fear, and maintain control over territory.^[1]^[2]

The heart‑carving allegation against Angel Guzman and the killing of Juan Jose Sibrian has drawn particular attention, both in court and in media coverage.^[1] Prosecutors described the act as a ritualistic killing intended to mark the victim’s body and send a message to rivals and potential recruits, while also serving as a macabre rite of passage for those involved.^[1] A tattoo reportedly became a key piece of evidence in the trial, with prosecutors arguing that the design linked one of the defendants to the killing and reinforced the gang’s use of symbols and markings to memorialize acts of violence.^[1] The government’s broader racketeering theory holds that these killings were not isolated outbursts but coordinated acts carried out in furtherance of the gang’s enterprise interests.^[1]^[2]

Because the available public materials consist largely of press summaries and official statements rather than the full 2019 indictment text, jury instructions, or detailed trial transcripts, the precise evidentiary basis for each count and each defendant’s role remains partially opaque to the outside observer.^[1]^[2]^[5] The reporting indicates that prosecutors relied on a mix of witness testimony, gang‑expert analysis, and circumstantial evidence, including the tattoo and other physical clues, to tie individual defendants to the Sibrian killing and related murders.^[1] However, the source set does not include the underlying forensic documentation, such as autopsy findings or crime‑scene reports, that would allow independent verification of the heart‑carving claim at the level of medical detail.^[1]^[5]

MS‑13 as a Transnational Criminal Threat

MS‑13, formally known as Mara Salvatrucha, originated in Los Angeles in the 1980s and has since expanded into a transnational criminal organization operating across Central America and the United States.^[2] Federal law enforcement agencies describe the gang as deeply involved in drug trafficking, human smuggling, weapons trafficking, extortion, and other violent crimes, often targeting both legal and illegal businesses for protection payments.^[2] In recent years, the Justice Department has emphasized MS‑13’s role in driving homicide rates in certain communities and has pursued a strategy of dismantling entire cliques through federal racketeering and violent‑crime‑in‑aid‑of‑racketeering prosecutions.^[2]

The Los Angeles case fits a broader pattern in which federal prosecutors frame MS‑13 killings as enterprise violence rather than random street crime, arguing that each murder serves to strengthen the gang’s structure, intimidate rivals, and maintain control over territory.^[1]^[2] Defense challenges in such cases often focus on whether the government can prove each defendant’s specific role, intent, and the reliability of cooperating witnesses or gang‑expert testimony, rather than contesting the underlying existence of the enterprise itself.^[1]^[2] In this instance, the jury’s decision to convict on multiple counts signals that the government’s narrative of coordinated, status‑driven violence carried the day in the courtroom, even as some details of the evidence remain shielded from public view by the constraints of sealed or sensitive filings.^[1]^[2]

For conservative observers, the verdict underscores the real and ongoing threat posed by transnational criminal organizations like MS‑13, especially when lax enforcement, open‑border policies, and sanctuary‑city practices allow such groups to embed themselves in American communities.^[2] The heart‑carving allegation and the broader pattern of machete killings highlight the extreme brutality that can accompany gang culture when it is left unchecked, and they serve as a reminder of why strong federal and local law‑enforcement partnerships, robust border security, and tough sentencing for violent criminals remain central to public safety.^[1]^[2] As the Trump administration continues to prioritize law‑and‑order policies and crack down on violent gangs, cases like this one will likely remain a focal point for debates over immigration, criminal justice, and the protection of American families from organized crime.^[2]