VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Author's note: The video above is on file from Nov. 15, 2021, the day Melvin Edgardo Molina-Ramos was convicted.
A Virginia Beach man was sentenced to serve 50 years in prison for a series of charges stemming from a gang-related homicide, a city official announced Monday.
Melvin Edgardo Molina-Ramos, 25, was convicted of solicitation to commit murder, conspiracy to commit murder, participating in a criminal act for the benefit of a gang and accessory to a homicide after the fact. He was found guilty of those charges on Nov. 15, 2021.
According to Colin Stolle, the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Virginia Beach, a judge sentenced Molina-Ramos to 65 years in prison with 15 years suspended, leaving 50 years to serve.
According to Stolle's office, Molina-Ramos was involved with MS-13 and ordered a man's murder. He and four other gang members thought the victim, Jairo Guardado, could have been involved in a rival gang.
A multi-agency investigation showed that Molina-Ramos had three newer MS-13 gang members kill Guardado, and threatened to kill them if they talked about, or couldn't carry out the murder.
Guardado's body was spotted by two men kayaking on Lake Smith in July 2018. The kayakers called police, who came to the scene and found the victim dead, with a gunshot wound on the back of his head.
Between finding the body and convicting Molina-Ramos, several teams of investigators worked to figure out what happened to Guardado. That included teams from the Virginia Beach Police Department, Norfolk Police Department, FBI Tidewater, FBI Norfolk and the Fairfax County Police Department.
Three co-defendants still have trials coming up in Virginia Beach Circuit Court related to this case.