MS-13 'Maryland man' pleads guilty over killing of high school student

An MS-13 gang member has pleaded guilty to his role in the brutal 2023 killing of a Frederick High School student in Maryland and faces a possible life sentence when he is sentenced later this year.

22-year-old Ismael Ivan Rivera Canales entered a guilty plea Thursday in federal court in Baltimore to one count of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise. His sentencing has been scheduled for November 14, according to The Frederick News-Post.

The case centers on the death of 15-year-old Limber Lopez Funez, who went missing in February 2023. Portions of his remains were discovered in April of that year.

Canales was one of seven alleged MS-13 members named in a federal indictment tied to Lopez Funez’s murder. The others include Josue Mauricio Arrue Paniagua, Santos Reyes Depaz Cruz, Jose Eduardo Guardado Mercado, Ismael Lopez Lopez, Jose Roberto Ramos Lopez, and Elmer Bladimir Reyes Reyes.

According to Assistant US Attorney Kenneth Clark, the suspects believed Lopez Funez was affiliated with a rival gang. In February 2023, Canales and others lured him to a wooded area in Frederick to smoke marijuana. There, they attacked him with knives and machetes, dismembered his body, and disposed of his clothing.

The outlet noted that the indictment did not outline the specific actions of each individual involved. However, it alleges that Canales, Reyes Reyes, and Depaz Cruz "did unlawfully conspire and agree with each other and others known and unknown to the Grand Jury to feloniously, willfully, and with deliberately premeditated malice, kill and murder" Lopez Funez.

Clark also stated that Canales is not a US citizen and could face deportation as a result of his conviction. He was identified as a member of an MS-13 "clique," or sub-group within the gang.