BEAUMONT, Texas (AP) — Seven inmates have been charged with murdering two prisoners and wounding two others during a January attack at a federal prison in Texas that led to the entire prison system being placed on solitary confinement. federal.
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The 15-count indictment filed this week includes racketeering, homicide, and attempted homicide charges against Juan Carolos Rivas Moreiera, Dimas Alfaro Granados, Raúl Landaverde Girón, Larry Navarete, Jorge Parada, Héctor Ramires, and Sergio Sibrian.
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All seven remain in federal detention, and official documents do not mention an attorney representing them.
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The January 31 attack occurred inside the Beaumont Federal Prison in Beaumont, Texas. Prosecutors say the defendants are members of the violent M-13 gang and attacked members of a rival gang to the Mexican Mafia and its affiliate, the Sureños.
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“For the department, deterring prison violence remains a top priority,” US Attorney Brit Featherston of the Eastern District of Texas said in a statement Thursday. “Any prisoner who causes physical injury to another, whether inmate or prison employee, will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
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If convicted on the murder charges, each could face the death sentence, the document indicates.
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MS-13 maintained a relationship with the Mexican Mafia and Sureños to be protected in prisons, according to the indictment.
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“However, that symbiotic relationship recently began to unravel when the leadership of the M-13 in El Salvador sought to exert greater control and independence over its members while they were incarcerated in US prisons,” the indictment says.
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Sureños member and Mexican Mafia associate Guillermo Riojas and Sureños member Andrew Pineda were stabbed to death during the attack, and two other Sureños members were wounded.
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