MS-13 Gang Associate Convicted For The Robbery Of A Brothel That Included A Rape And Murder

Greenbelt, Maryland - A federal jury today convicted Alexsi Lopez, age 26, of Hyattsville, Maryland, of conspiracy and the violent robbery of a Hyattsville brothel that resulted in a rape and murder.

The conviction was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge William Winter of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); and Chief Mark A. Magaw of the Prince George’s County Police Department.   

According to the evidence presented at his six day trial, Lopez was associated with the MS-13 gang and knew his co-defendant, Ramon Miguel Cerros-Cruz through MS-13.  Evidence showed that Lopez and Cerros-Cruz familiarized themselves with the location and operation of brothels in the Hyattsville-Langley Park area of Prince George’s County, then planned the robbery of a Hyattsville brothel apartment.  According to trial testimony, on February 28, 2007, Lopez and Cerros-Cruz entered the brothel apartment armed with knives, and using force and violence, demanded money from the people within the brothel and searched the apartment for cash and items of value. Witnesses testified that Lopez and Cerros-Cruz bound one of the brothel’s employees, raped another employee and murdered a third person who arrived at the brothel during the commission of the rape and robbery, stabbing him multiple times when he resisted the demands of the defendants.  DNA evidence placed Lopez and Cerros-Cruz at the scene.

Lopez faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy and for the robbery.  U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm has scheduled sentencing for August 24, 2015, at 1:00 p.m.

Ramon Miguel Cerros-Cruz, age 25, of Silver Spring, Maryland previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced of 10 years in prison for the robbery.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised HSI Baltimore and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation and thanked the Prince Georges County Department of Corrections and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services for their assistance.  Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys William D. Moomau and Daniel C. Gardner, who are prosecuting the case.