CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Two Charlotte-area MS-13 gang members were sentenced to life in federal prison Monday for murder, racketeering and other charges.
Miguel Zelaya, 22, of Charlotte, and Luis Ordonez-Vega, 37, of Concord, were both convicted in April and sentenced to life in prison Monday.
The charges come following a joint investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI, along with North Carolina’s Alcohol Law Enforcement and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
According to court documents, from at least 2009 until May 2015, the three defendants, along with 34 others named in a federal indictment, were members of the MS-13 gang -- a criminal organization with more than 6,000 members in the United States and 30,000 members internationally.
A third MS-13 gang member, Jorge Garcia, 27, was also sentenced Monday to 70 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to RICO conspiracy and attempted murder in aid of racketeering charges.
Twenty-nine additional MS-13 gang members have previously been sentenced in connection with this case.