Crime
MS-13 gang member gets life sentence in California after 'reign of terror'
Rivas Gomez was one of the 25 gang members who were arrested in 2018, during a multi-agency operation launched in the city in response to dozens of murders that were blamed on the MS-13 gang
April 7, 2023 9:19am
Updated: April 7, 2023 9:19am
An MS-13 gang member was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for kidnapping and murdering a man in 2017, authorities announced.
According to police, Israel Alberto Rivas Gomez, 28, from El Salvador was part of a “reign of terror” that attacked and harassed residents in Fresno County city from 2015 to 2017.
Rivas Gomez was one of the 25 gang members who were arrested in 2018, during a multi-agency operation launched in the city in response to dozens of murders that were blamed on the MS-13 gang.
In 2017, Rivas Gomez kidnapped a 19-year-old man, whose name has not yet been released by authorities. The gang member drove him to a remote location about 30 minutes away and cut him up using a knife and a machete.
In September 2022, a jury convicted Rivas Gomez of kidnapping and murder in aid of racketeering.
On Wednesday, U.S. Attorney Philip A. Talbert announced the life in prison sentence, calling the murder a “preplanned, carefully orchestrated, driven by allegiance to MS-13, and deserving of a life sentence.”
“The gruesome homicides that were committed to intimidate the community and further the efforts of MS-13 to exploit the community in Mendota exemplify why the FBI is deeply committed to working with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to disrupt the grip gangs attempt to have on our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office in a statement.
“Law enforcement and the community must stand together against violent gangs to offer residents and their children a brighter future and today’s sentence demonstrates the success we can have when we work together to investigate and disrupt organizations determined to exploit our communities,” he added.
The MS-13 gang originated in Los Angeles from Salvadoreans refugees who had fled their home country in the 1980s, at the height of a civil war. Currently, it is considered one of the world’s largest multinational gangs, spanning across several continents.
