“I’ve done this a long time and haven’t seen one quite like this one, I have to say.”
So said U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth, who has sat on the D.C. federal court bench since Ronald Reagan appointed him in 1987, last April.
What exactly stumped the senior judge that day? Another pending mistrial in the government’s prosecution of two of MS-13’s most notorious gang leaders.
For the second time in five months, a D.C. jury refused to convict Moises Rivera-Luna and Tokiro Ramirez on two racketeering conspiracy counts originating from a 2011 federal indictment (read: brought by the Obama DOJ, not Trump’s) for criminal gang activity in Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas. It appears from the official court docket that the pair became fugitives before the case could go to trial back then.
But in March 2025, the Trump administration extradited Rivera-Luna from Guatemala to finally face his day in court; Ramirez had been extradited from Honduras in 2022.
“Rivera-Luna is alleged to be an international leader of MS-13 who was sending orders and advice to an MS-13 clique operating in the Washington area via cellular telephone calls from his prison cell in El Salvador,” a March 2025 DOJ press release stated. “The indictment alleges that he and another alleged MS-13 leader… also incarcerated in El Salvador directed a coalition of MS-13 cliques to be formed in the Washington area. They advised local clique members that the coalition’s aim was to seek and kill MS-13 members who were found to be cooperating with law enforcement officials.” The indictment also accused the defendants of “narcotics distribution, extortion, [and] robberies.”
Both men pleaded not guilty; the first trial began on December 2, 2025, just a few weeks after the shooting of two D.C. National Guardsmen, which resulted in the death of one, amid strong public opposition of the Guard’s presence in the nation’s capital. The start of the trial also coincided with nationwide anti-ICE protests including in Washington. And a group called “Free DC” at the time was hosting online seminars as part of its Trump 2.0 resistance operation, advising D.C. residents how to serve on juries to “influence outcomes and help create a more equitable legal process.”
so instead of wasting everyones time and a whole lot of our tax dollars. How about we just put them down like a pack of rabid dogs?
so tired of all these liberals and their coddling of the criminal element! enough is enough!