MS-13 Member Pleads Guilty To Murder Of Fellow Gang Member

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY - A member of MS-13 plead guilty on Monday to charges related to the murder of a fellow gang member and attempted murder of a suspected rival gang member in 2016, according to the U.S. attorney's.

Elmer Alexander Lopez, 20, of Central Islip pleaded guilty to racketeering charges before U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Bianco, prosecutors said.

"Ridding our community of gangs is a long-term commitment and one that we are strongly committed to," Acting Suffolk Police Commissioner Stuart Cameron said. "Gang members should know that if they commit crimes in this county they will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

In 2016, Lopez and 18-year-old German Cruz, of Brentwood, as well as two other people were charged with the murder of Brentwood High School student Jose Pena and was killed on last June but whose remains were not recovered until October, prosecutors said.

Lopez, who was previously charged with two attempted murders, Cruz and two other defendants decided to kill Pena because he was suspected of violating gang rules, prosecutors said.

Prior to the murder, Lopez and the other MS-13 members held meetings where they discussed killing Pena because they suspected that Pena had cooperated with law enforcement authorities and that he might be homosexual, according to the U.S. attorney.

After consulting with MS-13 leadership in El Salvador, Lopez and the other gang members agreed to murder Pena and tasks were assigned to each of the members to carry out the plan, including obtaining weapons and a vehicle to be used in the murder, according to prosecutors.

Related:

• Police ID 13 Gang Members Charged In Seven Brentwood Murders
• More Than 30 MS-13 Gang Members Arrested For Brentwood Slayings: Police
• Another MS-13 Gang Member Charged With Murder Of Jose Pena

On June 3, 2016, Lopez and the other MS-13 members lured Pena into a car and drove to a secluded wooded area in Brentwood, where they attacked Pena, taking turns stabbing and slashing him with knives until he was dead, the U.S. attorney said.

Pena’s body was not discovered until October 17, 2016.

In addition, Lopez admitted during his guilty plea that one month after murdering Pena, he and other MS-13 members attempted to kill a suspected rival gang member on Lukens Avenue in Brentwood.

On July 3, 2016, an unidentified man was playing basketball with a group in front of a house on Lukens Avenue when Lopez and others, who were in a Ford Mustang, saw the group, who they suspected were members of the rival gang Goon Squad in Brentwood, prosecutors said.

They then drove toward the group and one of the MS-13 members shot at the group, the U.S. attorney said.

The man was struck by a bullet in the shoulder. He received medical treatment and survived the shooting.

Lopez faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 13, 2018.

He also faces deportation from the United States.

“Our ultimate goal is to eradicate the deadly and violent gang from the communities that have experienced murders, shooting, violence and criminal activity," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney. "The FBI Long Island Gang Task Force and our law enforcement partners have created a massive surge of pressure on MS-13, and this plea shows proof that pressure is paying off.”

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