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Commonwealth's Attorney

Posted on: November 15, 2016

MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced to Prison

Alvarenga, Jose Israel.jpg

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 15, 2016
Contact: Heather F. Williamson
Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office
20 East Market Street
Leesburg, VA  20176-2809
(703) 777-0242


                                    MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced to Prison
 

                                                Alvarenga to serve ten years


            LEESBURG, Virginia – November 10, 2016.    Jose Israel Alvarenga, 20, appeared before the Circuit Court of Loudoun County, in custody, for sentencing on one count of malicious wounding, one count of gang participation, and one count of felony obstruction of justice.  Judge Douglas L. Fleming Jr. imposed ten years in the Virginia Department of Corrections.

            In early November, 2015, Alvarenga approached a young man in Leesburg whom he believed to be a member of the 18th Street gang.  The victim denied any involvement in the 18th Street gang and Alvarenga demanded that he join the MS-13 gang.  The victim knew Alvarenga to be a leader of a local MS-13 gang clique.  The victim advised Alvarenga that he did not wish to join a gang and began to walk away.  Alvarenga then kicked the victim in the back and told him that he would kill him if he did not join MS-13.  The victim fled from the area.

            Less than one week later, law enforcement officers with the Leesburg Police Department and the Northern Virginia Gang Task Force responded to Northeast Leesburg for a report of a stabbing.  The victim was transported to a local hospital with life threatening injuries.

              Once medically stable, the victim advised detectives that he had been assaults by two MS-13 members, who were later identified as Josue Jeremias Cruz Gonzalez and Jose Roel Guevara Machado.  The victim suffered multiple stab wounds, permanent scarring, and lost a finger in the attack.

            Alvarenga was arrested on November 16, 2015, on warrants related to his November 7th assault on the victim.  Once incarcerated, Alvarenga told his fellow inmates that he had previously instructed Cruz Gonzalez and Machado to kill the victim, but that they had failed.

             Alvarenga pleaded guilty to the charges on August 4, 2016.

            At the sentencing hearing, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy McMullen implored the Court to impose a lengthy sentence.  McMullen directed the Court’s attention to the fact that all of the incidents happened within a mile of the Courthouse in a neighborhood populated by children and families, and that Alvarenga orchestrated all of the incidents involving the victim. 

            Alvarenga received an additional seven years of suspended time.  Upon his release, he will be placed on supervised probation.  

            Alvarenga, a native of El Salvador, is also being held pursuant to a Federal Immigration Detainer, which directs his removal from the United States upon his release.

            Josue Jeremias Cruz Gonzalez, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of gang participation and one count of malicious wounding on August 4, 2016.  Cruz Gonzalez was sentenced to ten years in the Virginia Department of Corrections on November 3, 2016.

            Guevara Machado, 21, pleaded guilty to malicious wounding and gang participation on July 25, 2016.  He is scheduled to be sentenced in Loudoun County Circuit Court on January 5, 2017 and faces up to 30 years in prison.
            
The prior news releases regarding this incident can be viewed at
www.loudoun.gov/oca or www.facebook.com/LoudounOCA.  

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