United States Court of Appeals For the First Circuit Nos. 19-1027 19-1745 UNITED STATES, Appellee, v. LUIS SOLÍS-VÁSQUEZ, a/k/a Brujo, Defendant, Appellant. APPEALS FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS [Hon. F. Dennis Saylor, IV, U.S. District Judge] Before Lynch, Lipez, and Barron Circuit Judges. Ian Gold for appellant Luis Solís-Vásquez, a/k/a Brujo. Sonja M. Ralston, Attorney, Appellate Section, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, with whom Andrew E. Lelling, United States Attorney, Donald C. Lockhart, Assistant United States Attorney, Brian C. Rabbitt, Acting Assistant Attorney General, and Robert A. Zink, Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General, were on brief, for appellee. August 20, 2021 LYNCH, Circuit Judge. This case raises as a matter of first impression whether a conviction for aggravated Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act ("RICO") conspiracy based on Massachusetts second-degree murder is properly considered a "crime of violence" under the Mandatory Victim Restitution Act ("MVRA"), 18 U.S.C. § 3663A, when the jury makes a special finding that a defendant has committed murder as part of that conspiracy. We conclude that it is not necessary to reach this question because the defendant has not met his burden of showing any plain error. In 2016, the government indicted Luis Solís-Vásquez, a/k/a "Brujo," and sixty others on RICO conspiracy charges for their involvement in the "Mara Salvatrucha" gang, commonly known as "MS-13." Solís-Vásquez was tried and convicted alongside two codefendants, Hector Enamorado, a/k/a "Vida Loca," and Noe Salvador Pérez-Vásquez, a/k/a "Crazy." The three appealed their convictions and sentences on various grounds, and we addressed the bulk of their claims of error in United States v. Pérez-Vásquez, No. 18-1867, 2021 WL 3140521 (1st Cir. July 26, 2021). This opinion addresses only Solís-Vásquez's challenge to the district court's restitution order. I. Background We discuss the facts relevant to the restitution order and refer to our companion opinion, Pérez-Vásquez, 2021 WL 3140521, to describe the background of the case. - 2 - At the time of the events in this case, Solís-Vásquez was a member of MS-13. MS-13's mission is to kill rival gang members, and one of MS-13's "rules" is that members should kill rival gang members on sight if they have the opportunity to do so. They are also required to help fellow MS-13 members to do so when asked. In the early morning of December 14, 2014, at an apartment in Chelsea, Enamorado ran into several rival gang members who had assaulted him the night before. He called Pérez-Vásquez and asked him to bring a gang-owned gun to the apartment because he was going to kill the rival gang members. Pérez-Vásquez told Solís-Vásquez about this request and said he would bring the gun to Enamorado. Solís-Vásquez decided to go with Pérez-Vásquez to meet Enamorado and brought a second gun. When they arrived at the apartment, Enamorado took the first gun from Pérez-Vásquez and told Solís-Vásquez to wait at the door with the second gun so no one could leave. Solís-Vásquez waited for a few minutes, then …
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