Gang Member Sentenced To Prison For Failed Kidnapping, Murder: DA

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY - An MS-13 gang member was sentenced on Thursday to seven years in prison for trying to kidnap and murder a Brentwood last year, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini.

Jorge Bermudez-Cedillo, 19, of Brentwood, was sentenced by Suffolk County Acting Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho to prison followed by two and one-half years of post-release supervision, the DA said.

Bermudez-Cedillo pleaded guilty on Nov. 13 to first degree attempted kidnapping, the DA said.

On Dec. 7, 2017, Bermudez-Cedillo, along with three other individuals, attempted to kidnap a 16-year-old from Brentwood with the intent to kill him to advance their status within the MS-13 gang’s Brentwood Locos Salvatruchas (BLS) clique, according to the DA.

Suffolk County Police had increased enforcement in the area after receiving intelligence that MS-13 members had been driving around the area in a van and harassing other teenagers.

At 2 p.m., plainclothes police officers who were in the area as part of the enforcement initiative witnessed the gang members trying to kidnap the teen in a 1995 Mercury van near 1st Street and 5th Avenue, the DA said.

The group mistakenly believed the victim to be a member of a rival gang, according to the DA said.

Police apprehended the members and found two knives, two bats, a lead pipe, a tarp and duct tape in the car, the DA said.

The other members involved in the incident are 21-year-old Miguel Rivera, 19-year-old Vidal Ortiz-Contreras and 19-year-old Oscar Fuentes, all of Brentwood, the DA said.

Rivera pleaded guilty in August to second degree conspiracy. He was sentenced on Oct. 26 to two to six years in prison.

Ortiz-Contreras pleaded guilty on September to second degree conspiracy. He was sentenced on Dec. 6 to one to four years in prison.

Fuentes pleaded guilty on August to second degree conspiracy. He was sentenced on Dec. 12 to two to six years in prison.

"This was an outstanding case where the Suffolk County Police Department literally prevented a murder at the hands of MS-13 gang members," Sini said. "Because of excellent police work and prosecution, not only are four gang members who conspired to commit murder now in prison, but a 16-year-old boy’s life was saved."

Image via SCPD