Long Island MS-13 Members Accused Of 6 Killings

LONG ISLAND, NY — Eight accused members of the MS-13 gang on Wednesday were charged in connection with six killings on Long Island, two attempted killings, an attempted kidnapping, drug trafficking and firearms offenses, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

Charges were announced against Carlos Alfaro, aka Russo, 23, of Roosevelt; Jose Moises Blanco, aka Cuervo, 30, of Salisbury, North Carolina; Oseas Gonzalez, aka Manota and Cordero, 28, of Charlotte, North Carolina; Jose Jonathan Guevara-Castro, aka Suspechoso, 25, former of Roosevelt and Annapolis, Maryland; Victor Lopez-Morales, aka Persa, 32, of Roosevelt; Ever Morales-Lopez, aka Kyen, Inke and White Boy, 26, of Freeport; David Sosa-Guevara aka Risky, 28, of Roosevelt; and Kevin Torres, aka Quieto and Inquieto, 24, of Freeport.

Officials say all eight charged are members of two "cliques" of MS-13 operating on Long Island: the Hollywood Locos Salvatruchas and Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside. Officials say Sosa-Guevara was the leader of the Hollywood clique and Torres the leader of the Sailors clique, and they were both in direct communication with MS-13 leaders in El Salvador, where the gang originates.

“In 2017, the president directed the Department of Justice to go to war against MS-13, and we did just that,” said Attorney General William Barr in a release. “In coordination with our partners at the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department’s law enforcement components have successfully investigated, charged and arrested command and control elements of MS-13 responsible for murder. Joint Task Force Vulcan’s operations have significantly degraded MS-13’s capabilities. While there is still work to be done, the Department of Justice remains committed to protecting Americans threatened by MS-13, and we will not rest until we have successfully defeated this transnational criminal organization.”

Blanco and Gonzalez were arrested Tuesday morning in Salisbury and Charlotte, North Carolina, respectively. They will be transferred to the Eastern District of New York and arraigned at a
later date. Alfaro, Lopez-Morales, Morales-Lopez and Sosa-Guevara, who are in state custody, and Torres, who is in federal custody, will also be arraigned at a later date. Guevara-Castro remains at large.

The main charges against the group stem from a series of murders that took place across Long Island in 2016 and 2017.

Murder of Oscar Acosta

Officials say Torres is charged in connection with his leadership role in the murder of 19-year-old Oscar Acosta, who was suspected of associating himself with the MS-13’s principal rival on Long Island, the 18th Street gang. Torres allegedly ordered the killing of Acosta, officials say, and assigned specific roles for other Sailors to the plan and carry out the murder.

On April 29, 2016, those MS-13 members lured Acosta to a wooded area near an elementary school in Brentwood. Once there, they brutally beat Acosta with tree limbs, knocking him unconscious. They then bound Acosta’s hands and feet, and coordinating with the local Sailors clique leader in
Brentwood, officials say they moved Acosta to a more secluded area near an abandoned psychiatric hospital. They carried him into the woods behind a warehouse and stabbed and slashed him to death with a machete. The MS-13 members then buried Acosta’s body in a
shallow grave, which was discovered in September 2016.

Murder of Kerin Pineda

Gonzalez, Guevara-Castro, Lopez-Morales, Morales-Lopez, Sosa-Guevara and Torres are all charged with the murder of 20-year-old Kerin Pineda, who was believed to be a member of the rival 18th Street gang, officials said. Torres ordered the killing of Pineda, officials said, and members of the Sailors clique coordinated with members of the Hollywood clique and devised the plan.

On May 21, 2016, MS-13 members, armed with machetes, lured Pineda to a secluded wooded area near the Merrick-Freeport border. Officials said Torres, Lopez-Morales and Sosa-Guevara acted as lookouts for police and stayed in contact with the gang members in the woods while they waited for Pineda. When Pineda arrived, officials say he was surrounded and violently

attacked by the gang, including two juveniles, who each took turns hacking and slashing him with their machetes. Pineda’s corpse was buried in a hole that had been dug the day before. Before leaving the scene, the MS-13 members contacted the lookouts who advised them that they could safely leave.

Murder of Josue Amaya-Leonor

Hollywood clique members Alfaro, Blanco, Gonzalez and Lopez-Morales are charged for their roles in the murder of 19-year-old Josue Amaya-Leonor on Sept. 4, 2016 because of his perceived association with the 18th Street gang, officials said.

Amaya-Leonor was lured to a secluded wooded area deep into the Roosevelt Preserve to smoke marijuana. Once there, officials say he was allegedly surrounded by the machete-wielding MS-13 members, struck repeatedly and killed. The MS-13 members dug a hole and buried Amaya-Leonor’s body, which was not found until May 2018.

Murder of Javier Castillo

Torres is charged for his role in authorizing the murder of 15-year-old Javier Castillo on Oct. 10, 2016 for his perceived association with the 18th Street gang, officials said. Members of the Sailors clique in Brentwood convinced Castillo, who lived in Central Islip, to go with them to Cow Meadow Park, a secluded area in Freeport, to smoke marijuana.

Once there, the MS-13 members attacked and killed Castillo, each taking turns hacking him with a
machete. Torres also served as the lookout for police in the area during the murder, officials say. The MS-13 members dug a hole and buried Castillo’s body, which was not discovered until
October 2017.

Murder of Carlos Ventura-Zelaya

Alfaro is charged with the Oct. 14, 2016 murder of 24-year-old Carlos Ventura-Zelaya in Roosevelt, officials said. Ventura-Zelaya had been marked for death by the MS-13
because of his suspected membership in the rival 18th Street gang. On the night of the murder, officials said Alfaro and other MS-13 members spotted Ventura-Zelaya on the street in Roosevelt. Alfaro, armed with a 9mm handgun, got out of the car, approached Ventura-Zelaya and fired all nine rounds from the gun, striking and killing Ventura-Zelaya, officials said.

Murder of Angel Soler

The racketeering charges against Lopez-Morales and Sosa-Guevara include the July 21, 2017 murder of 15-year-old Angel Soler and an August 2017 conspiracy to kidnap a person identified in the indictment as John Doe 3, officials said. Soler was a suspected 18th Street gang member, and Sosa-Guevara ordered his murder, officials said.

According to officials, Lopez-Morales and other MS-13 members carried out the murder, luring Soler to wooded lot near Milburn Creek in Roosevelt to smoke marijuana. The group attacked Soler with machetes and a pickaxe, and buried his body in a shallow grave, officials said. The following day, MS-13 members went back to lay cement over Soler’s body to better conceal it.

Just weeks after the Soler murder, Lopez-Morales and Sosa-Guevara planned the kidnapping, assault, and/or murder of John Doe 3, officials said, an MS-13 member who had violated the rules of the gang. Specifically, officials said Sosa-Guevara told Lopez-Morales and two other MS-13 members to kidnap John Doe 3 and wait for further guidance from MS-13 leadership to kill or brutally assault him.

On Aug. 6, 2017, officials say the plan to kidnap John Doe 3 was foiled by law enforcement, who had been intercepting the calls arranging the attack, and Lopez-Morales was arrested.

Attack on Suspected Rivals

Alfaro and Gonzalez are also charged with attacking a group of men who had gathered in front of a house in Brentwood on July 18, 2016, officials said. That night, officials said MS-13 members agreed to drive around the area “hunting” for rival gang members to kill. Four of the gang members, including Alfaro, were selected to participate, officials said, and armed with two handguns and a machete.

While driving around Brentwood that night, the MS-13 members spotted a group they believed were members of the rival Bloods street gang, said officials. Alfaro and two other MS-13
members concealed their faces with bandannas, ran over to the group and attacked them, according to officials.

One victim was shot in the leg. Another was shot and slashed in the head, face and arms. He sustained disfiguring injuries, but survived the attack.

Many of the alleged gang members are also facing charges for conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana, officials said. The drug sales were used to finance the other criminal operations.

If convicted of the charges against them, each of the men could face life in prison, and is eligible for the death penalty.

"Putting these men in a federal prison for the rest of their lives, or facing possible death sentences, may not mean much to them as members of MS-13 because it fits their macho bravado,” said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney. “But it means a tremendous amount of relief to the communities on Long Island they've terrorized by using machetes to murder teenagers. Our work over the last few years on the FBI Long Island Gang Task Force illustrates how vitally important it is to partner with those communities, gain their trust, and doggedly investigate these deplorable crimes. We've seen a vast improvement, but I want the community to know we're not going anywhere, our work is not done. If we can keep the lines of communication open, we can stop the violence before it turns deadly. Reach out and know we're here to help.”