A member of the gang known as MS-13 was sentenced Friday to 5 1/2 years in prison for his leadership and participation in a brutal gang assault in Falls Church, Virginia, last year.
According to court documents, in October 2018, 21-year-old Jose Ochoa Del-Cid, of Falls Church, led a group of fellow gang members in an attack on a male victim who they believed had been working with law enforcement and falsely claiming to be a member of MS-13.
Del-Cid led the victim to James Lee Park in Falls Church, where he and and around a dozen others ambushed the victim and beat him with baseball bats, fists and kicks for around three minutes. The victim suffered multiple broken bones and was hospitalized for several days after the assault.
The attack was meant to send a message to the community that cooperation with law enforcement would not be tolerated by MS-13, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.
“The sole purpose of this brutal and senseless assault was to instill fear in communities here in Northern Virginia and dissuade cooperation with law enforcement,” said G. Zachary Terwiliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
“Our investigation and prosecution of this case should send a clear message that the violent acts of MS-13 in our community will be prosecuted at every opportunity.”
