2 MS-13 Members Plead Guilty To Racketeering Charges: Feds

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY - Two Brentwood gang members pleaded guilty on Monday to racketeering charges in connection to several gang-related violence on Long Island, according to the U.S. attorney Richard P. Donoghue.

Ronald Catalan, 27, a former leader of the Brentwood Locos Salvatruchas (BLS) clique of La Mara Salvatrucha (also known as the MS-13) was charged with three attempted murders and a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana as well as illegally using firearms in connection with crimes of violence, the U.S. attorney said.

Jerlin Villalta, 21, a member of the Freeport Locos Salvatruchas (FLS) clique of the MS-13, pleaded guilty to the June 3, 2016 murder of Jose Pena and conspiracy to distribute marijuana as predicate racketeering acts, according to the U.S. attorney.

The guilty pleas were entered in separate proceedings before United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco.

When sentenced, each defendant faces up to life imprisonment, and Villalta faces deportation.

In June 2009, Catalan and two other MS-13 members, all of whom were new members of the BLS clique, armed themselves with handguns and drove through Brentwood, hunting for rival gang members to attack and kill in order to increase their standing in the gang, the U.S. attorney said.

They saw a group of men on Barleau Street, whom they believed to be members of the rival Bloods street gang, approached them and started firing, the U.S. attorney said.

John Doe #1 was struck in the armpit and back as he tried to run; he underwent surgery and ultimately survived, the U.S. attorney said.

Catalan also admitted to participating in the October 21, 2015 attempted murders of two men on Bancroft Road in North Bay Shore, according to the U.S. attorney.

Catalan, who was the leader of the BLS clique from 2015 until his arrest in July 2017, and other gang members retaliated against suspected members of the rival Latin Kings gang for the assault of an MS-13 member earlier that day, the U.S. attorney said.

Armed with two .38 caliber revolvers, the MS-13 gang members drove around Brentwood and Bay Shore and observed a group of people they believed to be Latin Kings, according to the U.S. attorney.

Catalan directed two newer MS-13 members to carry out the shooting and gave them the guns, the U.S. attorney said.

The MS-13 members approached the group and fired multiple shots before fleeing the scene, according to the U.S. attorney.

Two victims were struck by gunfire, but survived their wounds.

Villalta admitted that he and several co-conspirators murdered Jose Pena, a member of the MS-13, because he was suspected of cooperating with law enforcement and being homosexual, the U.S. attorney said.

After consulting with MS-13 leadership in El Salvador, Villalta and the other MS-13 members obtained weapons and a vehicle to be used in the murder, the U.S. attorney said.

On June 3, 2016, they lured Pena into the car and drove to a secluded wooded area in Brentwood, where they stabbed and slashed him with knives until he was dead, according to the U.S. attorney. Pena’s body was not discovered for four months.

Both Catalan and Villalta pleaded guilty to participating in drug conspiracies with the BLS and FLS cliques, respectively.

“The defendants have admitted carrying out numerous MS-13 attacks on Long Island, including murder and attempted murders, as part of the gang’s campaign of wanton violence,” Donoghue said. “Working with our partners on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Long Island Gang Task Force, we will not rest until MS-13 and the threat this transnational criminal enterprise presents to our communities is eliminated.”

Photo credit: Renee Schiavone/Patch