A violent gang member who attacked his rivals with a machete and licked their blood from the blade was sentenced to life in federal prison Friday, prosecutors say.
Rolan Ivan Hernandez-Fuentes, 22, was a member of MS-13, a gang with ties to Central America. Its creed is “kill, rob, rape, control,” according to a news release from federal prosecutors in Dallas.
In plea papers, Hernandez-Fuentes admitted he and fellow gang members tried to kill nine people in six incidents in the Dallas area in 2017, and he outlined his crimes in graphic detail.
In July 2017, Hernandez-Fuentes said he and other MS-13 members attacked two men they believed were in a rival gang with a machete at a Dallas apartment complex.
After the attack, Hernandez-Fuentes admitted he licked the victims’ blood from the machete and said he liked the “taste of victory.”
The following day, Hernandez-Fuentes and others attacked and robbed a drug dealer in Irving with the same machete, forcing him to kneel and then cutting him before demanding the victim pay a “tax” to the gang, prosecutors said.
In August 2017, Hernandez-Fuentes and other MS-13 members attacked another man they believed belonged to a rival Dallas gang using a sledgehammer, an ice pick, a metal bar, a stick and a knife. The man was hospitalized for several days.
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The same month, Hernandez-Fuentes and others attacked and robbed yet another man in Irving, hitting him with a metal bat until they thought he was dead.
Hernandez-Fuentes, whose nickname is “Tasmania,” is from El Salvador and has been living in the United States illegally, prosecutors said. He belonged to a clique of MS-13 called “Irving Loco Salvatruchas.”
Two others involved in the same gang have also been sentenced.
Jerson Gutierrez-Ramos, 21, also known as “Sparky,” was sentenced to 40 years behind bars.
Kevin Cruz, 20, also known as “Street Danger,” received a 21-year sentence.
“When machete-wielding gang members terrorize our streets, they will be met with swift and certain justice,” U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox said in a prepared statement.
