News & Record
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An MS-13 gang member was sentenced to death Tuesday for the December 2007 murders of two brothers in Greensboro.
A federal jury in April recommended a death sentence for Alejandro Umana.
Chief U.S. District Court Judge Robert J. Conrad Jr. had to follow the jurors’ recommendation and impose the death sentence.
Umana, 25, was convicted by a federal jury in Charlotte in the deaths of Ruben Garcia Salinas and Manuel Garcia Salinas. Both were killed Dec. 8, 2007, at Las Jarochitas restaurant at 3738 High Point Road in Greensboro.
Witnesses testified at the trial that Umana was a member of MS-13 who had illegally traveled from El Salvador to Los Angeles, New York and eventually Greensboro.
Testimony established that the fall 2007, Umana was asked by MS-13 members in prison in El Salvador to assist in reorganizing the Charlotte MS-13 so that they could better control the drug trade as well as extort and attack rival gang members in North Carolina.
Testimony revealed that on Dec. 8, 2007, while in a restaurant in Greensboro, Umana shot Ruben Salinas fatally in the chest and Manuel Salinas in the head after they “disrespected” his gang signs by calling them “fake.”
Umana fired three more shots as restaurant patrons scurried for cover, with one witness running to protect her infant child. One other person was injured by the gunfire.
Umana later escaped to Charlotte with the assistance of other MS-13 members, where he was arrested Dec. 12, 2007, in possession of a loaded Ruger, later determined to be the murder weapon.
“The death penalty in this case is fair, just, and merited,” U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins said in a statement.
Federal executions are rare. The last one occurred in 2003, and only three have occurred since the 1960s. There are several dozen people on federal death row.
Umana was among 26 suspected MS-13 members indicted in Charlotte in 2008 after a federal sweep.
Authorities said the gang was part of an international organization that committed crimes across Charlotte, including robbery, racketeering, extortion and murder.
Eighteen of them have pleaded guilty. Six more members were convicted in Charlotte in January on federal charges involving violence and conspiracy. One of them was convicted of murder, in connection with the April 2008 slaying in Charlotte of Ulisses Alejandro Mayo, shot to death while sitting in a car after a children’s birthday party.
The remaining defendant is imprisoned in El Salvador and can’t be extradited.
“This case has spanned international borders, taken years of investigation and thousands of hours of arduous work,” said Owen Harris, the special agent in charge of the Charlotte division of the FBI. “It proves our law enforcement partners are determined to bring those who break the law to justice, regardless of the obstacles that may block the path.”
Prosecutors said Umana coordinated attempts to kill witnesses and informants while he was incarcerated awaiting trial. He also attempted to bring a knife with him to the courtroom before U.S. Marshals discovered it.
As Umana entered the courtroom Tuesday, his legs shackled and hands cuffed, he smiled. Then, turning to the audience, he said, “Hola!”
Umana was convicted on all charged counts, including conspiracy to participate in racketeering, two counts of murder in aid of racketeering, two counts of murder resulting from the use of a gun in a violent crime, possession of a firearm by an illegal alien, one count of extortion, and two criminal counts associated with witness tampering or intimidation.
The jury also found that, in July 2005, Umana killed Jose Herrera and Gustavo Porras in California. And the jury found that he participated in the killing of Andy Abarca in Los Angeles a few months later.
Copyright 2010 News & Record (Greensboro, NC)