New
Charges Include the September 2009 Slaying of a Grocery Store Employee During
an Armed Robbery
Earlier today, a 50-count second
superseding indictment was unsealed at the United States Courthouse in Central
Islip, New York, charging 11 members and associates of La Mara Salvatrucha,
also known as the MS-13 street gang, with multiple murders, attempted murders,
assaults with dangerous weapons, armed robberies, and related firearms and
conspiracy offenses. The charges were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United
States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Mary Galligan, Acting
Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field
Office.
Ten of the defendants are in custody and
are scheduled to be arraigned on this superseding indictment at 11:00 a.m.
today before United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco. This indictment
adds five new defendants—Edwin Acosta-Martinez, Edwin Hernandez, Mario
Rodriguez-Chinchilla, Walter Velasquez-Cruz, and a fifth individual whose
identity remains under seal at this time (the “co-defendant”)—and charges
relating to the September 12, 2009 armed robbery of Los Hermanos Grocery and
the murder of 57 year-old Miguel Peralta in Brentwood, New York; the October
23, 2011 attempted murder of two suspected rival gang members in Central Islip,
New York; and seven additional armed robberies, which took place in Suffolk
County between December 2009 and February 2012. Specifically:
■Joyser Velasquez, Francisco Ponce and
the co-defendant are charged with the armed robbery of Los Hermanos Grocery and
the murder of Miguel Peralta. Asdetailed in court filings, Velasquez and the
co-defendant, armed with handguns, entered the store, while Ponce waited as the
getaway driver. Peralta, who was sweeping a storeroom in the back of the store,
heard the commotion, entered the front of the store, and came face to face with
Velasquez, who shot him once in the side. Peralta then ran down an aisle where
he was confronted by the co-defendant, who shot him in the head. The robbers
then rifled through the cash register, took cash and checks, and fled.
Velasquez, Ponce, and the co-defendant are also charged with several other armed
robberies, including the December 27, 2009 armed robbery of a Burger King
restaurant in Bay Shore.
■Hernandez is charged with two attempted
murders and assaults with dangerous weapons, which took place on October 23,
2011, on Clift Street in Central Islip. That evening, Hernandez, who was a new
member of the Brentwood clique of the MS-13, was directed to murder a rival
gang member in order to gain full status within the clique. Hernandez and
another MS-13 member armed themselves with a .22 caliber semi-automatic handgun
and 9mm semi-automatic handgun and drove around Central Islip looking for rival
gang members. On Clift Street, Hernandez and the other MS-13 member observed a
group of African-Americans whom they believed were members of the Bloods street
gang. Hernandez and the other MS-13 member approached the group and opened
fire. Two men were struck and were subsequently transported to local hospitals.
Both victims survived.
■Acosta-Martinez, Rodriguez-Chinchilla,
and Velasquez-Cruz are charged in connection with a series of robberies that
took place in Suffolk County between January and February 2012, including: the
armed robberies of the Lempa Deli in Central Islip on January 4, 2012; the Off
the Track Quick Mart in Babylon on January 6, 2012; the Iglesia Universal
Church in Brentwood on January 11, 2012; the Chapi Deli in Huntington Station
on January 26, 2012; the Mi Tierrita restaurant in Brentwood on February 13,
2012; and the Health-Mart Pharmacy in Bay Shore on February 28, 2012.
The indictment announced today includes
the charges from the underlying indictments against Jose Alvarenga, Hector
Torres, Jonathan Ayala, Edwin Molina, Ponce, and Velasquez, relating to: a July
24, 2008 murder conspiracy and assault with a dangerous weapon in Timberline
Park in Brentwood; the February 15, 2009 armed robbery of Pollo Campero
restaurant in Lindenhurst; the October 4, 2009 murder of Luis Castro in
Huntington; the November 20, 2009 murder of Christopher Hamilton in Brentwood;
the December 19, 2009 armed robbery of Wilson Express Corp., a check cashing
and money transfer business in Patchogue; a January 2010 conspiracy to rob a
McDonald’s restaurant in Smithtown; the August 31, 2010 murder of Rigoberto
Gomez in Brentwood; the September 2010 murder of Bayron Vasquez-Nunez in
Brentwood; and January 2012 firearms charges.
If convicted, each defendant faces a
maximum sentence of life in prison. In addition, Alvarenga, Ponce, Torres,
Velasquez, Molina, and the co-defendant each face mandatory life in prison or
possibly the death penalty.
“For years, members of the MS-13 street
gang have terrorized communities across Long Island. As charged in this new
indictment, the defendants cut a swath of terror and wanton violence
victimizing innocent citizens across Suffolk County,” stated United States
Attorney Lynch. “This office and the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force will
continue to prioritize combating gang violence on Long Island.”
FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge
Galligan stated, “The allegations in the new indictment confirm the ongoing
threat posed by MS-13. Despite a decade’s extraordinary effort by the Long
Island Gang Task Force and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the hundreds of
convictions already obtained, MS-13 members continue to commit murder and mayhem
seemingly without regard for human life. The new charges include the
cold-blooded murder of an innocent grocery store employee during one of several
violent armed robberies in Suffolk County. So long as MS-13 and other gangs
pose a threat to public safety, the efforts of the FBI and the task force will
persist.”
The government’s case is being
prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John J. Durham, Raymond A.
Tierney, and Carrie N. Capwell.
The charges announced today are the
latest in a series of indictments by the United States Attorney’s Office for
the Eastern District of New York against members of the MS-13, a violent
international street gang. Over the past decade, more than 200 MS-13 members,
including the leaders of a number of the MS-13 cliques on Long Island, have
been arrested and convicted on federal felony charges in this district,
including federal racketeering and murder charges. These prosecutions are the
result of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, comprising
agents and officers of the FBI, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County
Sheriff’s Department, the United States Department of Homeland
Security-Homeland Security Investigations, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s
Department, and the Suffolk County Probation Department. U.S. Attorney Lynch
commended the detectives from the Suffolk County Police Department, who, until
recently, were assigned to the task force, for their tireless efforts and
invaluable contributions to this prosecution.
The charges are merely allegations, and
the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Defendants:
EDWIN ACOSTA-MARTINEZ (a/k/a “Scarface”
and “Alejandro”)
Age: 23
JOSE ALVARENGA (a/k/a “Fosforo”)
Age: 22
JONATHAN AYALA (a/k/a “Bang Bang,” “Bam
Bam,” and “Duende”)
Age: 19
EDWIN HERNANDEZ (a/k/a “Masacre” and
“Scooby”)
Age: 21
EDWIN MOLINA (a/k/a “Trece”)
Age: 24
FRANCISCO PONCE (a/k/a “Spoiler”)
Age: 30
MARIO RODRIGUEZ-CHINCHILLA
Age: 24
HECTOR TORRES (a/k/a “Smiley”)
Age: 21
JOYSER VELASQUEZ (a/k/a “Baby Boy”)
Age: 28
WALTER VELASQUEZ-CRUZ (a/k/a “Wilmer”)
Age: 27
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