MS-13 Member from New Jersey District Sentenced to 10-Year Prison Term for Conspiracy to Commit Murder Aiding Racketeering

A member of the MS-13 gang operating in Hudson County, New Jersey, named Jose Gimenez-Lobos, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison due to his part in a foiled murder plot. Gimenez-Lobos, who also goes by the names “Infernal” and “Terrible,” pleaded guilty in a federal court to plotting to murder a member of a rival gang back in May 2015. His ten-year sentence will run concurrently with a separate 40-year sentence which Gimenez-Lobos received for a murder committed in Virginia in November 2014.

U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger noted that Gimenez-Lobos would spend most of his remaining life behind bars as a result of his violent activities as part of MS-13. He emphasized that there was no room in the social community for such senseless disregard for life. FBI-Newark Special Agent in Charge, James E. Dennehy, shed light on how Gimenez-Lobos and MS-13 used their criminal activities to perpetuate violence. Even failing to fulfill his plan, Gimenez-Lobos had his subordinates brutally beaten, illustrating their total disregard for human life.

John Tsoukaris, Newark ICE Enforcement and Removal Field Office Director, highlighted the crucial cooperation required between federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies in apprehending, prosecuting, and sentencing the MS-13 gang member. Keeping in line with the sentiment of collaboration, HSI Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso reiterated the determination of HSI Newark to work with partners in the area to ensure the safety of communities from such dangerous gang members.

Court documents filed in the case revealed that Gimenez-Lobos, along with other gang members, pleaded guilty to a plot to murder a rival gang member. The plan involved the participation of a female associate of MS-13, who befriended the intended victim and then lured him to New Jersey to be executed. When the initial plan to make contact with the victim failed, the gang members decided to lodge the victim in a local motel, planning to murder him during a provided transportation back to the Maryland/Virginia area.

However, the conspiracy was thwarted when the target sensed the impending threat to his life and made his escape on the way back to the Maryland/Virginia area. The MS-13 members, in turn, were punished for failing to execute their assigned task. Sellinger acknowledged the collaborative effort of involved law enforcement agencies including the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Homeland Security Investigations, which facilitated the investigation, arrest, and subsequent prosecution of Gimenez-Lobos.