SILVER SPRING, Md. (Map, News) - A 22-year-old Silver Spring man who is part of the infamous MS-13 gang pleaded guilty to racketeering charges Friday and could face life in prison, according to the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland.

Franklin Mejia Molina, also known as “Dragon,” reportedly conspired to participate in illegal activities with the Teclas Locos Salvatruchos clique of MS-13 between August 2004 and August 2006, including the planned murder of a police officer.

“MS-13 is considered a racketeering organization,” said Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “What this says is that he committed certain crimes related to his participation in this organization.”

Molina is just one of more than 20 people being tried by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in connection with the racketeering case, Murphy said. The other individuals are set to go to court in coming months.

Among Molina’s activities, he and two other gang members in April 2004 reportedly threatened two women in a vehicle and damaged the women’s vehicle because they had driven through an area MS-13 was seeking to control.

The 22-year-old, along with other gang members, also reportedly assaulted and tried to kill two youths with bottles and a knife in Langley Park, Md., in June 2005.

MS-13, which is short for La Mara Salvatrucha, is made up mostly of immigrants or descendants of immigrants from El Salvador. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the gang has about 10,000 members regularly engaging in criminal activity in at least 10 states and Washington. Molina is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 4.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com