Department of Justice

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – November 9, 2020 – A criminal complaint was unsealed Friday charging the local leader of an MS-13 Gang clique with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Sergio Alvarado, aka Sergio Ochoa, 27, of Nashville, was initially arrested on October 31st by Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers after fleeing from officers following a shootout at Club Miami.  This incident began around 4:00 a.m. when a MNPD officer heard gunfire coming from the vicinity of the nightclub.  The officer proceeded toward the nightclub and upon arrival, heard a volley of gunshots and saw two cars speeding out of the parking lot.  The officer then found one individual in the parking lot suffering from a gunshot wound. 

Additional officers arrived on the scene and approached a car believed to be involved in the shooting.  As officers approached the car, they saw Alvarado running toward the back of the parking lot and toward several dumpsters.  Officers continued to pursue Alvarado and eventually found him in a wooded area and arrested him.  After tracing the flight path taken by Alvarado, officers recovered a 9mm pistol and a .380 caliber pistol near the dumpsters.  Alvarado was later released on bond.  On Thursday, Alvarado was arrested on the federal firearms charge.   

A detention motion filed Friday by the government asserts that Alvarado is the leader of the local MS-13 clique – Thompson Place Locos Salvatrucha, and he has returned to distributing controlled substances. This gang is a violent, international street gang that operates in middle Tennessee and elsewhere.  The motion also asserts that Alvarado has a substantial criminal history, including several drug trafficking and firearm offenses and is currently on supervised release from a 2017 case in which he received a 30-month sentence for drug trafficking and firearm offenses; and that he has further violated the terms of his release by associating with a known felon, Michael Mosely, at the Dogwood Bar in Nashville, moments before Mosely stabbed two individuals to death on December 21, 2019. 

This case is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; Homeland Security Investigations; the U.S. Marshals Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Ahmed Safeeullah and Trial Attorney Matthew Hoff of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section are prosecuting the case. 

A criminal complaint is merely an accusation.  The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. 

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