MS-13 Member Pleads Guilty to Shooting, Killing 15-Year-Old: Feds

CENTRAL ISLILP, NY — A member of the deadly MS-13 street gang pleaded guilty to the 2019 murder of 15-year-old Jasson Medrano-Molina in federal court Wednesday, according to prosecutors.

Jose Omar “Duende” Sorto Portillo, 18, a member of the Leeward Locos Salvatruchas clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the transnational gang MS-13, pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering for his participation in the murder of Medrano-Molina, according to Joseph F. Bianco, acting United States attorney for the eastern district of New York.

According to prior court filings and Portillo's statements during the plea proceeding, Portillo and other MS-13 members were seeking to attack and kill individuals whom they believed were rival gang members during the months of July and August 2019, in order to elevate their own positions in the gang.

In the early morning hours of August 7, 2019, Portillo and two co-conspirators lured Medrano-Molina and two other individuals to a wooded area in Central Islip, federal officials said. Portillo, who was armed with a .40 caliber handgun, was waiting in a pre-determined location for the victims, according to previous reports. When the Medrano-Molina arrived, Portillo shot him multiple times at close range, federal officials said. Medrano-Molina died at the scene, and the other two individuals ran and were able to escape unharmed, prosecutors said.

“This senseless murder was characteristic of MS-13’s M.O., which is to commit acts of violence against anyone perceived as an enemy, even when that person is only a 15-year-old child,” stated Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini. “This is the latest of many convictions that hold these dangerous gang members responsible for the death they’ve caused."

Portillo, who was 16 at the time, was initially charged in juvenile court on August 14, 2019 and on September 13, 2019. Both cases were filed under seal in the eastern district of New York. Prior to pleading guilty, Portillo consented to be tried as an adult in the case, officials said.

MS-13's presence has existed on Long Island for more than two decades and has roots in Los Angeles and Central America. Between January 2016 and July 2017, at least 17 people were murdered by the gang, according to The New York Times.

Then-President Donald Trump traveled to Long Island in recent years to discuss the scourge gangs brought to the area.

"They have transformed peaceful parks and beautiful, quiet neighborhoods into blood-stained killing fields," he said.