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

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY - A member of the MS-13 gang pleaded guilty on Friday to charges in connection to his involvement in the quadruple murders of four men in 2017, according to the U.S. Attorney.

Freiry Martinez, now 17, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in connection with his participation in the April 11, 2017 murders of Justin Llivicura, Michael Lopez, Jorge Tigre and Jefferson Villalobos, according to the U.S. Attorney.

The guilty plea was entered before United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco.

On April 11, 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 Martinez and other MS-13 members, the U.S. attorney said.

The MS-13 members believed the victims were members of a rival gang who were disrespectful toward the MS-13, so Martinez, along with other MS-13 members and associates, met in a wooded area behind the park where they distributed weapons, discussed the plan to kill the victims and then awaited their arrival, the U.S. attorney said.

Once the female MS-13 associates arrived at the park, they led the victims to a wooded area and sent the MS-13 members a text message describing their location, the U.S. attorney said.

Martinez, the other MS-13 members and associates then surrounded the victims and killed Llivicura, Lopez, Tigre and Villalobos using machetes, knives and wooden clubs, the U.S. attorney said.

The fifth intended victim escaped.

After the attack, Martinez and his associates dragged the victims’ bodies to a more secluded spot and fled, the U.S. attorney said.

The four bodies were discovered the following evening.

Martinez, who was 15 years old at the time of the murders, initially was charged as a juvenile that was filed under seal in the Eastern District of New York on July 10, 2017, the U.S. attorney said.

Martinez fled from New York to Virginia and later to Maryland after the murders and remained a fugitive until November 21, 2017 when he was arrested in Montgomery County, Maryland, according to the U.S. attorney.

Martinez, an illegal alien from El Salvador, was then turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and removed to the Eastern District of New York in custody by the United States Marshals Service, the U.S. attorney said.

Following the government’s application to transfer Martinez to adult status for prosecution, the motion was granted by Judge Bianco.

When sentenced, Martinez faces a maximum of life in prison. After completing his sentence, he faces deportation from the United States.

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