Prosecutors in a sweeping federal case towards suspected MS-13 members simply tacked on one more homicide to the brutal allegations towards the worldwide road gang identified for its excessive violence.
In new prices that performing U.S. Lawyer Joshua Levy stated demonstrates “a complete disregard for human life and the rule of law,” three males have been accused of taking part in varied methods within the homicide of two different males: Joaquin Aguilar, of Allston, on Dec. 18, 2010, in Chelsea; and Jose Cortez Cornejo on July 13, 2020, close to Horseneck Highway in Dartmouth.
U.S. District Court docket Decide William G. Younger on Friday unsealed an indictment charging two suspected MS-13 members with these homicide as related to a racketeering conspiracy — it’s the third such indictment filed in an enormous MS-13 case first opened in 2017. On Thursday, U.S. Justice of the Peace Decide Jennifer C. Boal unsealed a separate indictment towards a 3rd suspect on associated prices.
Charged are William “Humilde” Pineda Portillo, 31, of Everett; Jose “Cholo” Vasquez, who additionally goes by “Little Crazy,” 31, of Somerville; and, within the different case, Franklin Antonio “Tony” Amaya Paredes, 27, of New Bedford.
MS-13, also called La Mara Salvatrucha, has deep roots in El Salvador however has transnational operations with cliques pushing its attain all through the U.S. and different nations like Honduras and Guatemala, in keeping with court docket filings. Prosecutors say it is named notably violent, utilizing “murder, assault, extortion, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and drug trafficking” to additional its nefarious enterprise.
Pineda Portillo was additionally charged within the first superseding indictment on this case, which was related to the homicide of Joaquin Aguilar, of Allston, on Dec. 18, 2010, in Chelsea. Prosecutors have now related Vasquez to the homicide, saying that whereas each males and others conspired to homicide the 28-year-old, Vasquez was one of many males who really stabbed him, leaving his palm print on the deal with of the silver kitchen knife left on the scene.
Vasquez is already serving a 212-month — or 17 years and eight months — sentence in federal jail on one other racketeering conspiracy conviction. Pineda Portillo, likewise, was indicted in that case however was deported simply earlier than the indictment was returned. He was arrested in Might 2022 crossing the Texas border from Mexico, the place he allegedly admitted he was a member of MS-13, and despatched again to Massachusetts, the place he stays in federal custody pending trial.
Pineda Portillo and Vasquez — who prosecution witnesses have described because the chief of the Trece Loco Salvatrucha (TLS) MS-13 clique in Somerville — have been indicted within the 2010 homicide of Aguilar.
In that case, Chelsea Police responded to sixth Avenue slightly after 7 that December night the place they discovered Aguilar nonetheless acutely aware however bleeding from 12 stab wounds to his head and chest. He can be pronounced useless at Massachusetts Normal Hospital. Police tracked his blood path to the positioning of the violence: below the Fifth Avenue on-ramp to Route 1 southbound in Chelsea.
Within the 2020 case, Amaya Paredes is accused of luring Cortez Cornejo to a household get together earlier than then driving the sufferer to Horseneck Highway the place he shot and killed him. He was charged that 12 months by state authorities and through that case he was allegedly recognized as an MS-13 member.
“What these men allegedly did to their victims was particularly heinous — so much so that, over a decade later, the circumstances still stand out,” stated Particular Agent in Cost Jodi Cohen of the Boston FBI.
“Today’s charges should make it clear to MS-13 members and their associates that medieval-style violence and senseless murder will not be tolerated in Massachusetts,” Cohen added. “The FBI’s North Shore Gang Task Force and its partners have put years of hard work into rooting out all the violence this transnational criminal organization has created and bringing those responsible to justice.”
Courtesy / U.S. District Court docket
The Fifth Avenue on-ramp to Route 1 southbound in Chelsea, the place federal authorities say Joaquin Aguilar, of Allston, was murdered on Dec. 18, 2010. A silver knife used as a homicide weapon is seen on the scene at proper. (Courtesy / U.S. District Court docket)
Boston Herald file picture
MS-13 graffiti with Boston’s skyline within the distance. (Herald file picture)
