Carlos Argueta and Co-Conspirators Murdered an MS-13 Member
for Violating the Gang’s Rules and Attempted to Kill a Suspected Rival Gang
Member in Brentwood
Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip,
Carlos Argueta, also known as “Violento,” “Desorden” and “Dylan,” the former
leader of the Freeport Locos Salvatruchas clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also
known as the MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, pleaded guilty to
racketeering and firearms charges for his participation in the January 15, 2016
attempted murder of a suspected rival gang member outside the Brentwood public
library, and the June 3, 2016 murder in Brentwood of Jose Pena, an MS-13 member
who was suspected of violating the gang’s rules. The guilty plea was entered before United
States Circuit Judge Joseph F. Bianco.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York, William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge,
Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), Geraldine Hart,
Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), and Patrick J. Ryder,
Commissioner, Nassau County Police Department (NCPD), announced the guilty
plea.
“With today’s guilty plea, Argueta admitted that while free
on bail for shooting a gang rival in broad daylight outside a public library
less than six months earlier, he planned and carried out the vicious murder of
a fellow gang member on behalf of the MS-13,” stated United States Attorney
Donoghue. “This Office, together with
the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, will continue working tirelessly to
eradicate MS-13 and hold its members accountable for their senseless violence.”
“The twisted code the members and leadership of the MS-13
adhere to doesn't make sense to anyone outside of the gang,” stated FBI
Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney.
“They brutally take the lives of people because they didn’t follow the rules. There is no world where those thought
processes and behaviors are okay. Our
FBI Long Island Gang Task Force is doing all it can to root out all the
violence this gang has created and bring those responsible to justice.”
“This guilty plea ensures that another member of MS-13 will
face up to life in prison for killing a member of his own gang and attempting
to murder a suspected rival gang member—two cases that are a reminder of the
heinous nature of this transnational gang,” stated SCPD Commissioner Hart. “We applaud the effort of prosecutors to
ensure Argueta would be tried as an adult to face the stiffest penalties
possible. I would like to thank the
Eastern District of New York and our partners on the FBI Long Island Gang Task
Force for their continued partnership and commitment in bringing gang members
to justice.”
“The guilty plea of defendant and MS-13 member Carlos
Argueta should serve as an example of how multi-jurisdictional law enforcement
agencies collaborate to bring violent defendants like these to justice,” stated
NCPD Commissioner Ryder. “The tireless
work of the dedicated men and women of these agencies have made our communities
and streets safer, and I would like to congratulate all for a job well done. As we continue our zero tolerance approach
toward illegal gangs, this defendant’s blatant disregard for society and life
will be met with incarceration.”
As set forth in prior court filings and the defendant’s
statements during his guilty plea, Argueta and several other MS-13 members
confronted three suspected rival gang members outside a public library in
Brentwood on January 15, 2016. Argueta
removed a .45 caliber semi-automatic handgun from his waistband and shot one of
the men, identified as John Doe in the superseding indictment, in the
torso. Argueta and the other MS-13
members then fled. The wounded victim
received medical treatment and survived.
Argueta, Pena and a third MS-13 member were subsequently
arrested by Suffolk County Police Officers in connection with the attempted
murder of John Doe, and were released on bail.
Argueta subsequently demanded to see the other two MS-13 members’ arrest
paperwork in connection with the shooting.
Argueta then informed other members of the Freeport clique that he
suspected that Pena, a member of the Normandie clique of the MS-13, had
cooperated with the SCPD. Additionally,
members of the MS-13 suspected that Pena was homosexual, which is unacceptable
under the rules of the MS-13.
After consulting with MS-13 leaders in El Salvador, Argueta
and other MS-13 members agreed to kill Pena and Argueta assigned tasks to other
MS-13 gang members, including procuring weapons and a vehicle to be used in the
murder. On June 3, 2016, Argueta and
other MS-13 members lured Pena into a car, and drove to a secluded wooded area
in Brentwood. After walking into the
woods, the group attacked Pena, taking turns stabbing and slashing him with
knives, and killing him. More than four
months thereafter, Pena’s body was found.
On September 20, 2016, Argueta, who was 16 years old at the
time of the crimes, was arrested by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, and
charged in juvenile informations filed under seal. The government subsequently filed a motion to
transfer Argueta to adult status for prosecution, and an evidentiary hearing
was held on the transfer motion. On
September 7, 2017, Judge Bianco issued a Memorandum and Order granting the
government’s motion, and ordered that Argueta be prosecuted as an adult. Argueta appealed, and on December 20, 2018,
the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Judge Bianco’s decision.
When sentenced, Argueta faces a maximum of life in
prison. Upon completion of his sentence,
Argueta, an illegal alien from El Salvador, faces deportation from the United
States.
Today’s conviction is the latest in a series of federal
prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of
New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent international criminal
organization. The MS-13’s leadership is
based in El Salvador and Honduras, but the gang has thousands of members across
the United States, comprised primarily of immigrants from Central America. With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the
MS-13 is the largest and most violent street gang on Long Island. Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members,
including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony
charges in the Eastern District of New York.
A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted of federal
racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and
assaults. Since 2010, this Office has
obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 45
murders in the Eastern District of New York, and has convicted dozens of MS-13
leaders and members in connection with those murders. These prosecutions are the product of
investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, comprising agents
and officers of the FBI, SCPD, NCPD, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department,
Suffolk County Probation, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, Rockville Centre
Police Department, New York State Police, and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long
Island Criminal Division. Assistant
United States Attorneys John J. Durham, Paul G. Scotti, Justina L. Geraci and
Michael T. Keilty are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
Carlos Argueta (“Violento,” “Desorden” and “Dylan”)
Age: 20
Brentwood, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-510 (S-2) (JFB)
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