MS-13 Member Pleads Guilty For Role In Quadruple Murder: Feds

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY - A teenage gang member pleaded guilty on Monday to charges in connection to the 2017 murder of four men at a Central Islip park, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Josue Portillo, a member of the Leeward Locos Salvatruchas clique MS-13, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges without a plea agreement with the government, relating to his participation in the April 11, 2017 murders of Justin Llivicura, Michael Lopez, Jorge Tigre and Jefferson Villalobos, the U.S. Attorney said.

Portillo, 17, of Central Islip was initially charged by a juvenile information that was filed under seal in the Eastern District of New York on July 10, 2017, the U.S. Attorney said.

Portillo, an illegal alien from El Salvador, was in immigration custody in Virginia when charged, the U.S. Attorney said.

He was then transferred to the custody of the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force and transported to this district where the government filed a motion to transfer Portillo to adult status for prosecution.

"Whether young or old, the savagery of MS-13 gang members remains the same. Portillo and other members of MS-13 brutally beat and killed four young men, leaving them in an isolated wooden area," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said.

In April 2017, two female associates of the MS-13 lured five young men, including the four victims, to a community park in Central Islip at the direction of Portillo and other MS-13 members, according to the U.S. Attorney.

The four men were believed to be members of a rival gang who had disrespected the MS-13, the U.S. Attorney.

Portillo and several MS-13 members and associates met in a wooded area behind the park where they distributed weapons and discussed the plan to kill the men, according to the U.S. Attorney.

The female MS-13 associates then arrived at the park, led the men to a wooded area and sent Portillo a text message describing their location, the U.S. Attorney said.

Portillo and the other MS-13 members and associates surrounded the men and killed Llivicura, Lopez, Tigre and Villalobos using machetes, knives and wooden clubs, the U.S. Attorney said. The fifth intended victim escaped.

Portillo and his associates dragged the bodies to a more secluded spot and fled, the U.S. Attorney said. The bodies were discovered the following evening.

When sentenced, Portillo, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Upon completion of his sentence, he faces deportation from the United States.

"Josue Portillo’s guilty plea today marks a milestone in the investigation of MS-13’s brutal murders of four young men lured to their violent deaths in a park on Long Island," United States Attorney Richard Donoghue said. "We hope the victims’ families can find some measure of solace in knowing that the perpetrators of these murders are now being held responsible for their crimes."

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