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CHARLOTTE -- Chief U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad formally imposed the death penalty on a convicted MS-13 gang member Tuesday morning.

Alejandro Umana, 25, is the first MS-13 gang member to receive the death penalty in the country.

"This is the harshest penalty we have within the criminal justice system. Certainly we know the MS members were watching this closely and so hopefully it sends the message it needs to send," said Jill Rose, trial attorney for the Department of Justice.

A jury recommended the death penalty for Umana back in April after they found him guilty of killing two brothers in a Greensboro restaurant back in 2007.

Two additional murders in California were also brought to the jury's attention during sentencing. Umana was also found guilty of racketeering, extortion, and witness tampering.

Before the judge entered his decision Umana addressed the court saying, "This is the destiny that God has given me. As for the rest, mara salvatrucha.”

“He's a very committed gang member," said U.S. Attorney Sam Nazzaro. "He killed for the gang and did many other crimes for the gang and that's his creed, 'mara salvatrucha.' It's a very dangerous national and international organization."

Umana's case was automatically appealed under the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

Umana was arrested in 2008 during a roundup of more than two dozen suspected MS-13 gang members.

Attorneys for the prosecution say all of those defendants have been convicted except for one, who remains in prison in El Salvador.

Follow News 14 Carolina's coverage of the Alejandro Umana case.