"
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — The four young men sat nonchalantly in a federal courthouse here on Thursday afternoon, barely raising their eyebrows when a judge said they could face the death penalty for their roles in
the killings of two teenage girls in September.
Instead, one of the four, Jairo Saenz, a leader of the local clique of a transnational gang with Salvadoran roots, grinned, swiveled in his chair and hardly looked at the crying relatives from El Salvador in the back of the courtroom.
Mr. Saenz, 19, was one of five people arrested Thursday morning in Suffolk County on Long Island as part of a federal sweep that targeted 13 adult members of the gang, MS-13. An additional three people were charged as juveniles, and their records were sealed. As of Thursday evening, 14 people were in custody, with two yet to be arrested."
"
Mr. Capers said that 10 of the 13 adult gang members were undocumented immigrants, and that three of the gang members who were accused of direct involvement in the killings of Kayla and Nisa in Brentwood, N.Y., on Sept. 13, were undocumented immigrants. He said Mr. Saenz’s older brother, Alexi, 22, who also was charged in the killings, was a legal permanent resident.
Earlier, four gang members were arrested in connection with the killing
of José Peña-Hernandez, 18, whose remains were found in the woods near a hospital in October. They are also undocumented immigrants.
The federal charges include racketeering, seven murders, attempted murders, obstruction of justice, arson and conspiracy. Since the killings, the Suffolk County Police Department has arrested more than 125 MS-13 members, officials have said. The arrests on Thursday are the only ones in conjunction with federal authorities."
Precious dreamers. Just give them a chance!
MS-13 Gang Members Arrested in Girls’ Killings on Long Island, Police Say