An El Salvadorean man who was deported after killing a man was caught again in the United States.
William Umberto Martinez Chavez, 40, was convicted of manslaughter after killing a man outside a deli in Huntington, New York, in May 2000.
After Chavez finished his sentence in 2017, he was deported.
But the illegal alien was found back in Huntington on April 2.
“This office is firmly committed to prosecuting criminals who illegally re-enter the United States, especially MS-13 gang members who break into the country after deportations resulting from violent-crime convictions,” Eastern District U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said in a statement announcing the arrest.
Chavez was charged with illegal reentry, which is a felony crime.
“Martinez Chavez is a known MS-13 gang member who was convicted of manslaughter, served his time and was removed from the United States, only to resurface on the same streets after having entered illegally,” stated Thomas Decker, New York field office director for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Enforcement and Removal Operations.
“It is the job of the brave men and women of ICE to take those who break the laws of this country off the streets and see that they are removed back to their home countries,” Decker added.
According to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Central Islip, Chavez got into an argument with another man outside the deli and stabbed the victim, severing his aorta and causing his death.
The defendant previously admitted to being a member of the notorious MS-13 gang and has MS-13 tattoos on his abdomen and on his chest.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
6 MS-13 Gang Members Indicted
Six MS-13 gang members who are accused of conspiring to commit two separate murders in Suffolk County, New York, have been indicted, according to an announcement by the district attorney office on March 25.
Officials say the investigation began in the summer of 2018. In the first case, 20-year-old Kevin Zuniga, 28-year-old Jose J. Portillo, and 31-year-old Kevin Mejia Sandoval allegedly conspired to murder a fellow MS-13 gang member who they believed was cooperating with law enforcement.
“This goes to show how ruthless this gang is and is part of their [modus operandi]: They conspire to kill rival gang members but they also conspire to kill their own when they allegedly violate the rules of the gang,” District Attorney Timothy Sini said in a press release.
Portillo, Zuniga, and Mejia Sandoval are accused of being “homeboys” in the Leeward clique of the MS-13 gang, who act as leaders in the United States. Authorities say these members receive orders from gang leaders in El Salvador and then direct local members to carry out the gang’s plans.
MS-13, also known as Mara Salvatrucha, was initially formed by Salvadoran immigrants that fled to Los Angeles during the civil war in their home country. Their motto is “kill, rape, control.” Many MS-13 gang members in the United States are illegal immigrants.
In the second case, authorities alleged Zuniga, Portillo, and Mejia Sandoval, along with fellow gang members 22-year-old Gerver A. Chinchilla Perez, 17-year-old Emerson Hernandez Escobar, and 17-year-old Rafael Hernandez Elias conspired to kill a gang member from the rival 18th street gang.
“Our intelligence shows that their plan was to kill him by shooting him with a firearm they planned on purchasing, butchering him with a machete, or by burning him to death,” Sini said.
Authorities say Mejia Sandoval had received permission from higher-ups in El Salvador to carry out both murders.
“These were not empty threats; we’ve seen MS-13 gang members commit murders before of rival gang members and of their own associates who are accused of cooperating with law enforcement,” the district attorney said. “Which is why we do not, and cannot, take the threat of MS-13 lightly.”
Portillo, Zuniga, and Mejia Sandoval were each charged with two counts of Conspiracy in the second degree and conspiracy in the fourth degree. Meanwhile, Chinchilla Perez, Hernandez Escobar, and Hernandez Elias were each charged with conspiracy in the second degree and conspiracy in the fourth degree.
The six defendants face a maximum sentence of more than eight years and four months to 25 years in prison if convicted of the top charge.
Epoch Times reporter Janita Kan contributed to this report.
