Four Tren de Aragua members plead guilty to 2024 double murder

Four members of the Venezuelan foreign terrorist organization Tren de Aragua pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of murder through the use of a firearm for their roles in a 2024 double murder in New York City.The four men also pleaded guilty to one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence for the non-fatal shooting of a third unidentified victim, according to the Justice Department. They face up to life in prison for each of the murder charges.
Court documents claimed Keiber Jaen Martinez, Samuel Gonzalez Castro, Eferson Morillo-Gomez and Keineyer Ibarra-Mujica agreed to kill 44-year-old Claretha LaQuesha Daniels, 36-year-old Justin Lawless and an unidentified third person in May 2024.
The four men then aided and abetted, caused, and otherwise facilitated the fatal shooting of Daniels and Lawless and attempted murder of the third victim who experienced multiple non-fatal gunshot wounds, the department said.
“Thanks to the hard work of our law enforcement partners and prosecutors, these four Tren de Aragua gang members will now face justice for their part in the ruthless and senseless murders of two Americans and the attempted murder of a third person in the Bronx two years ago,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said. 
“As a former Assistant U.S. Attorney who prosecuted violent crimes and gangs in the Bronx, this case hits home for me,” he continued. “Tren de Aragua is a terrorist organization with no place and no future in the United States, and this Department of Justice will not stop until we have rooted out, dismantled and destroyed them.”
The Justice Department said a fifth co-defendent pleaded guilty last week to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, in connection with his participation in a September 30, 2024, gunpoint carjacking in New York City. 
Three other Tren de Aragua codefendants previously pleaded guilty to other offenses and have been sentenced.
Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage. 

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