A member of the MS-13 gang from Hyattsville, Maryland, was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for extorting from businesses in the area.
Gerdandino Delgado-Escobar, 24, was sentenced to 51 months, followed by three years of supervised release on Monday, the Office of U.S. Attorney for Maryland Robert Hur said in a statement. Delgado-Escobar will also have to pay restitution.
Hur’s office said that Delgado-Escobar, a member of the Langley Park clique of MS-13, and his associates extorted weekly payments — called “rent” by gang members — from drug dealers, brothels, unlicensed stores, and legitimate food and beverage sellers and distributors.
The beer delivery businesses were extorted for $40 to $50 a week; brothels, about $15 a week, prosecutors said. The gang collected these payments by threatening and, sometimes, using force — an MS-13 member grabbed one beer delivery worker by the neck, put a gun to his head and threatened to kill the man’s entire family if he didn’t pay up.
“This prosecution and sentence send a strong message to MS-13 gang members that we will not tolerate the fear and violence perpetrated by MS-13 in Maryland,” Hur said in the statement. “Federal, state and local law enforcement will continue to work together to find and bring to justice MS-13 members who prey on our neighborhoods.”
