A leader of the reputed MS-13 gang that have staked to claim in the Atlanta metro region has been sentenced to life for his role in the robbery murder of a rival gang member, the U.S. Department of Justice reports.
Remberto Argueta, a/k/a Pitufo has been sentenced to two concurrent life sentences for his role in a gang-related murder and attempted murders in the Atlanta metropolitan area.
According to United States Attorney Yates, the charges and other information presented in court: MS-13 is an international gang that has operated in the Atlanta, Ga., area since at least 2005. The gang members staked out Gwinnett and DeKalb Counties as their home territory and used violence to defend their territory, attack rival gang members and commit armed robberies. The evidence presented at trial showed that Argueta, along with other members of MS-13, planned to rob Arpolonio Rios-Jarquin, a suspected drug dealer, at a hotel in April 2007. When Rios-Jarquin turned out to have his own gun, Argueta and his fellow MS-13 members engaged in a shootout with Rios-Jarquin that spilled outside the hotel room. Rios-Jarquin died from the multiple gunshot wounds inflicted on him. Surveillance video showed one of the MS-13 members stopped to pick up Rios-Jarquin’s weapon, which he later showed off as a trophy.
Additional evidence showed that in October 2007, Argueta and several other MS-13 members were at an apartment complex in Gwinnett County when Argueta spotted suspected rival gang members. He approached them and asked them who they “claimed”—that is, what gang they belonged to. When Christian Escobar responded that he and his friend, Jose Garcia-Barajas, were members of the rival 18th Street gang, Argueta said, “You’re going to die.” Argueta pulled out a handgun and started chasing and shooting at Escobar and Garcia-Barajas. He shot Escobar in the back and Garcia-Barajas in the hip and arm. While shooting at them, Argueta also fired shots into the apartments of nearby residents. An elderly woman testified that one of Argueta’s bullets hit the headrest of an armchair that she had been sitting in just a few minutes earlier.
“Argueta helped MS-13 live up to its reputation as a ruthless, violent gang that spread fear throughout the community,” said United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates. “He displayed a callous disregard for human life and has fittingly earned his place behind prison walls for the remainder of his life.”
Argueta, 27, of Lilburn, Ga., has been sentenced to two concurrent life sentences in prison. On November 22, 2013, after a trial lasting three weeks, a jury found Argueta guilty of RICO conspiracy involving murder, violent crime in aid of racketeering involving murder, and using a firearm to commit a crime of violence. Parole has been abolished in the federal system.
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