Judge orders release of Las Vegas man charged in MS-13 case

A Las Vegas man charged in a sweeping federal indictment against members and associates of the MS-13 gang will be released pending trial, a judge ruled Friday.

“The court is convinced that conditions exist that can be fashioned to address the danger to the community,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Koppe said when announcing her decision at a detention hearing.

Rosalio Andres Siguenza-Romero, also known as “Tweety,” will live in his home with his wife, identified only as Veronica during the hearing, and must maintain his current job as a food runner at the popular Hugo’s Cellar inside the Four Queens.

The conditions of his release include no communication with his co-defendants, surrendering his passport and no weapons.

“The judge made the right decision based on where we’re at in the process,” his defense attorney, Todd Leventhal, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal after the hearing. “We are two days into this. The facts, or allegations, are words on paper, as I say, and mean nothing.”

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that key figures of the gang had been indicted in New York and Nevada. Some of them face charges of terrorism, murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking.

Siguenza-Romero, 40, is one of 13 men charged in Nevada, and his trial is set for Sept. 14. He faces charges of dealing in firearms without a license, conspiracy to deal in firearms without a license and possession of an unregistered firearm.

He was not present in the courtroom Friday; he instead attended via videoconference.

The crimes detailed in the 39-page indictment span about a year, between July 2019 and July this year, though the government only began investigating Siguenza-Romero in December, after he sold a semiautomatic handgun, a semiautomatic rifle and a revolver to undercover agents, Assistant U.S. Attorney Shaheen Torgoley said during Friday’s court hearing.

Two weeks later, one of the gang’s leaders, Adali Arnulfo Escalante-Trujillo, a “shot caller” also known as “Buchaca,” told an undercover agent that Siguenza-Romero “could get the purchaser whichever firearms the purchaser wished,” according to the indictment.

‘Photographic evidence’

In all, Torgoley said, Siguenza-Romero sold nearly a dozen weapons — some stolen — and two silencers between December and April, and had boasted about being able to obtain more firearms, including a fully automatic AK-47. The transactions were captured in audio or video recordings, Torgoley said, and took place inside Siguenza-Romero’s home, which he has owned since 2006.

Torgoley said “photographic evidence” links Siguenza-Romero to MS-13 since at least the late 1990s. The evidence includes photos of Siguenza-Romero holding up MS-13 “hand gestures.”

“He’s right in the middle of MS-13 behavior in Nevada and Los Angeles, and he’s an arms dealer for them,” Torgoley said.

But Leventhal argued, “If he was in MS-13 these last 20 years, he is the worst gangster I’ve ever seen.”

A search of Siguenza-Romero’s house following his arrest turned up only one weapon, but, Torgoley said, investigators recovered at least 11 weapons and four silencers on Tuesday during a search of his brother’s home in Las Vegas.

Prosecutors believe Siguenza-Romero’s brother, Victor, had either been storing or producing the weapons for him. His brother was not facing charges as of Friday.

Married with two kids, Siguenza-Romero has no felony convictions on his record, owns a home, has a steady full-time job, and successfully obtained U.S. citizenship in 2011 and a permit to carry a concealed weapon in Nevada earlier this year — both of which require extensive background checks, fingerprints and fees.

Leventhal said Siguenza-Romero immigrated to California from El Salvador with his family when he was 11 and moved to Las Vegas in 1998.

Seated in the courtroom gallery on Friday was Richard Assalone, the general manager of Hugo’s Cellar, where the defendant has worked for two decades. Assalone promised that Siguenza-Romero would have a job “if he got out tomorrow.”

“I’ve had a plethora of employees, but none that match the level of professionalism, respect, courteous, well-mannered and promptness,” Assalone wrote in a letter filed with court documents. “He arrives at work, never complains. Always willing to step up and above to assist co-workers.”

MS-13, which has been in the U.S. since at least the 1980s, is a transnational gang made up primarily of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from El Salvador.

Nearly half of the 13 men indicted last week in Las Vegas live in Los Angeles, said Nevada U.S. Attorney Nicholas Trutanich, but they often came via “a well-worn path” to Las Vegas, a way station in the international drug trade with hubs in Central America and Mexico.

Co-defendant detained

Later Friday, Koppe ordered another defendant, who is not a legal resident, detained.

Juan Luis-Rico, or Juan Rico, also known as “Pelon,” is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and one count of distribution of a controlled substance. Prosecutors said he sold more than 50 grams of methamphetamine.

Torgoley told the judge that Luis-Rico, 45, had no history of lawful employment in the United States, was addicted to alcohol and marijuana, and used meth himself. Investigators found three cellphones and a firearm at his Las Vegas home, the prosecutor said.

Defense attorney Richard Tanasi pointed to six of Luis-Rico’s family members in the courtroom gallery and said he had been employed in the masonry business.

The judge found that Luis-Rico was a flight risk and a danger to the community.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter. Staff writer David Ferrara contributed to this report.