MS-13 'Animal' Sentenced For Boy's Murder

BOSTON, MA — An MS-13 member known as "Animal" was sentenced Monday for his involvement in the murder of a 15-year-old boy in East Boston. Joel Martinez, 23, a Salvadoran national, was sentenced in federal court in Boston to 40 years in prison and two years of supervised released. He will be subject to deportation when his sentence is completed, the U.S. District Attorney in Massachusetts Andrew Lelling's Office said.

The sentencing comes days after President Donald Trump lathered up both sides of the aisle by using the term "animals" to respond to a question about MS-13 members.

Martinez, who went by "Animal," according to prosecutors, pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, known as a RICO conspiracy. More than 60 alleged MS-13 affiliates were swept up last year by police.

Martinez was caught on tape admitting to the murder of Irvin Depaz, of Chelsea, on Sept. 20, 2015, on Trenton Street in East Boston. In recorded conversations with a cooperating witness, Martinez said he was a member of the deadly MS-13 gang and admitted to stabbing Depaz to death.

"I stabbed the [expletive] three times," Martinez was recorded having said. "He stared at me and he asked me if I was going to, if I was going to stab him. I told him, ‘Yes, the Mara rules you.'"

Martinez was then "jumped in" and "made a "homeboy" of MS-13's Eastside Loco Salvatruch. The jumping in process involved a new member being beat with members' hands and feet while one of the leaders slowly counts to 13.

>>>Read the expletive-laden recording here.

Trump recently used the term "animals" in response to a question about the gang. Some media outlets portrayed the answer as a blanket statement for all undocumented immigrants, something his supporters quickly honed in on. Trump's critics argued no immigrant groups should be dehumanized with such a term.

The White House soon after offered a remarkable embrace of the term Trump used.

"Too many innocent Americans have fallen victim to the unthinkable violence of MS-13’s animals," a release said. "President Trump’s entire Administration is working tirelessly to bring these violent animals to justice."

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