A member of the gang MS-13 was convicted yesterday (Tuesday) for his role in several murders, including five that occurred in the Reston area between 2019 and 2022.
The conviction of Elmer De Jesus Alas Candray, now 27, by a federal jury in Alexandria concluded a multi-year investigation that crossed state lines and involved the FBI, Fairfax County Police Department and other federal and local agencies, according to FBI acting Special Agent in Charge Geist.
“Alas Candray committed half a dozen gruesome murders to rise in rank in MS-13, demonstrating a vile disregard for his victims’ lives,” Geist said. “… We thank the victim’s families for their patience throughout Alas Candray’s prosecution and reaffirm our commitment to bringing MS-13 members to justice for terrorizing communities throughout the country.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia, Alas Candray first worked with other MS-13 members to kill an associate in New Bedford, Massachusetts, who was believed to have betrayed the gang. The group beat and strangled the victim on Aug. 25, 2018.
Alas Candray was also tied to five murders in Reston, starting with a June 23, 2019 killing where he and other gang members shot and slashed an individual identified by prosecutors as J.L.G.M. in the Hunters Woods area.
The group had “conspired to murder individuals who frequently gathered to drink in a wooded area in the clique’s perceived territory in Reston,” the attorney’s office said in a press release.
Another killing on Sept. 17, 2020 involved the use of Snapchat to “lure” a woman who was believed to be “associated with a rival gang” and to have “disparaged MS-13 on social media.” Two gang members picked up the woman and drove her to Colts Neck Road, where Alas Candray and a fourth individual were waiting.
“The four co-conspirators killed I.J.P.G. by taking turns shooting her, primarily in the face,” the Justice Department said in the press release.
In addition, Alas Candray shot and killed Santos Antonio Trejo Lemus, a 40-year-old Reston resident, as he was walking near his home at the Winterthur Apartments on March 11, 2021. He told MS-13 leadership that Lemus was a chavala, or rival gang member, according to an indictment.
Alas Candray was also charged with a murder on May 30, 2022 at the Lerner Springs at Reston apartments, where he and other gang members killed a man by kicking him and “dropping a large rock on his head,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office says.
In a separate incident on June 18, 2022, Alas Candray and another co-conspirator picked up a man who they believed disrespected the gang and violated its rules, prosecutors say. They drove the man to Seneca Regional Park in Great Falls, where they beat him with a baseball bat and stabbed him. The group then dismembered his body and buried his remains.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Alas Candray and the other gang members became aware that investigators had photos of them, with Alas Candray telling associates to get rid of ammunition and to move on Aug. 17, 2022.
With many court documents under seal, it’s unclear how Alas Candray was identified and arrested, but he and another MS-13 member were indicted in Lemus’s killing in September 2022.
Alas Candray was ultimately convicted yesterday of conspiracy to participate in racketeering, five counts of conspiracy to commit murder in aid of racketeering, five counts of murder in aid of racketeering, and three counts of use of a firearm during a crime of violence causing death.
“This verdict sends a clear message that the community will not tolerate violence, and we will hold those accountable for their actions,” Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said.
Alas Candray will be sentenced on Jan. 30, 2025, facing a minimum sentence of life in prison for each of the five murder counts.
