A woman who lured an 18-year-old man into Maryland woods with the promise of sex so that MS-13 gang members could beat him to death was sentenced to 40 years in prison Tuesday.
Judge Anne K. Albright gave Vanesa E. Alvarado, now 20, a life sentence with all suspended except 40 years, her lawyer, Timothy Clarke, told the Daily News.
In June 2016, Alvarado helped orchestrate the brutal murder of Cristian Villagran-Morales, a Guatemalan-born landscaper.
Morales thought he was going to have sex with Alvarado. Instead, he was stabbed 153 times by gang members she knew.
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Villagran-Morales was suspected of being a member of a rival group, even though family members denied that he was a part of any gang.
Vanesa Alvarado, 20, was sentenced to 40 years in prison after luring 18 year old Cristian Villagran Morales into the woods to be killed by MS-13 gang members in Maryland. Alvarado pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. (Montgomery County Police Dept.)
Alvarado pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder.
During the Montgomery Circuit Court sentencing, judge Albright called the attack “utterly brutal,” local media reported. Montgomery county “can’t tolerate violence of this kind,” the judge said.
Clarke had asked the judge for a lighter sentence of 25 years, he told The News.
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He said that Alvarado "regrets her role in this criminal event and is certainly remorseful." He noted, too, that she has two young children who live with her parents.
Cristian Villagran-Morales, 18, was killed by MS-13 gang members in Maryland woods in 2016. He was stabbed more than 150 times. (GoFundMe)
“Some day in the next couple of years when there is no big crowd of people, I’ll see if I can get the sentence reduced,” he said.
Alvarado said nothing during her sentencing, according to local media reports.
The mother of the victim called her son’s attackers “horrible people” who “shouldn’t be in this country.”
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In addition to Alvarado, four others were charged in the killing.
One of the four pleaded guilty this month, and charges against a second were dropped. Trials are pending for two others.
Youtoo2 on May 31st, 2017 at 12:50 UTC »
She deserves life without parole. The article sucks. It doesnt explain why the life sentence was suspended. A 40 year sentence comes with parole in something like 15 years. This sentence is bullshit.
Warneral on May 31st, 2017 at 08:57 UTC »
Its funny, a lot of people tried to tell me that the MS-13 we have in the DMV are not 'real' gang bangers and that its nothing to worry about.
I worked as a security guard for two apartment buildings in Annandale for almost exactly one year and there were four murders of residents tied to MS-13, and a handful full of violent assaults.
The area is lousy with them, and most of them are teenagers with no sense of morality who have been told they will not spend time in jail. Seriously scary bunch of people.
catsandcomicbooks on May 31st, 2017 at 05:48 UTC »
I sincerely hope this woman lives to exactly one day before her prison sentence ends.