An MS-13 leader is sentenced to 68 years in racketeering case involving 8 murders

By PHILIP MARCELO CENTRAL ISLIP N Y AP The leader of an MS- clique in the suburbs of New York City was sentenced Wednesday to years in prison in a federal racketeering circumstance involving eight murders including the killings of two high school girls that focused the nation s attention on the violent Central American street gang Alexi Saenz pleaded guilty last year for his role in ordering and approving the killings as well as other crimes during a rash of bloody violence that prompted President Donald Trump to make several visits to Long Island and call for the death penalty for Saenz and other gang members during his first term in the White House Saenz s lawyers sought a sentence of years behind bars but prosecutors desired the judge to impose the maximum sentence of years Prosecutors who previously withdrew their intent to seek the death penalty disclosed Saenz deserves to live out his days in prison for his senseless and sadistic crimes Judge Gary Brown in handing down the sentence announced the reduction of two years from the maximum recognized Saenz s role in pleading guilty and avoiding a painful and costly trial as well as his efforts in convincing his younger brother the gang s second-in-command to do the same This small adjustment is more than what was afforded to his casualties the judge disclosed none of whom will ever enjoy another day on this planet Saenz s lawyers had argued for leniency saying in their own legal filings that the now- -year-old is remorseful and on a journey of redemption while incarcerated With the passage of time and much reflection it is hard for Mr Saenz to reconcile the person he is this day with the person he was when he committed the crimes their sentencing memo reads He is profoundly sorry and although he knows the families may not accept his apology it is sincere and he accepts full responsibility for his participation in these crimes Saenz s lawyers also say he suffers from intellectual disabilities and lasting trauma from an abusive father and a tough upbringing in his native El Salvador They say Saenz was recruited and unwittingly groomed into MS- because he was an easily influenced and gullible high school candidate on Long Island Prosecutors however countered that Saenz remained firmly entrenched in MS- while in a federal lockup in Brooklyn for the past eight years They cited photos of him posing with other gang members behind bars and displaying gang signs and gang paraphernalia They also revealed Saenz was disciplined for assaulting other inmates refusing staff orders and possessing sharpened metal shanks cellphones and other contraband Indeed the same pattern of violence and mayhem that has marked his life on the street has not waned with the passage of time prosecutors wrote Related Articles Why Tohono O odham Nation s centuries-old saguaro fruit harvest is experiencing a revival in Arizona After Diddy s conviction here s where his business ventures stand The US plans to begin breeding billions of flies to fight a pest Here is how it will work A look at the promising sentence faced by Sean Diddy Combs in his sex trafficking trial Daughter of assassinated civil rights leader sees painful echoes of political violence in America Saenz also known as Blasty and Big Homie was the leader of an MS- clique operating in Brentwood and Central Islip known as Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside He admitted last July that he d authorized the eight killings and three other attempted killings of perceived rivals and others who had disrespected or feuded with the clique Saenz also admitted to arson firearms offenses and drug trafficking the proceeds of which went toward buying firearms more drugs and providing contributions to the wider MS- gang Among the killings Saenz oversaw were the deaths of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens lifelong friends and classmates at Brentwood High School who were slain with a machete and a baseball bat Other casualties included Javier Castillo of Central Islip who was befriended by gang members only to be cut down with a machete in an isolated marsh Another victim Oscar Acosta was discovered dead in a wooded area near railroad tracks nearly five months after he left his Brentwood home to play soccer MS- or Mara Salvatrucha is a transnational criminal organization inferred to have been founded as a neighborhood street gang in Los Angeles in the mid- s by people fleeing civil war in El Salvador