MS-13 Member Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison For Brutal Slaying

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — An MS-13 gang member was sentenced on Thursday to 25 years in prison for his role in a brutal 2016 murder and selling marijuana in the Brentwood area for nearly a year, according to the U.S. Attorney. Marlon Guevara, also known as "Mosquito," was sentenced at the federal courthouse in Central Islip by U.S. Circuit Judge Joseph F. Bianco for his participation in the slaying of Dewann Stacks.

Guevara, 20, of Brentwood, pleaded guilty to the charges in January 2019. After completing his sentence, Guevara faces deportation.

According to U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue, on Oct. 13, 2016, Guevara and other MS-13 members drove around the streets of Central Islip and Brentwood hunting for rival gang members to attack and kill.

They spotted Stacks on American Boulevard in Brentwood and, thinking he was a member of a rival gang, decided to kill him. Guevara, wielding a machete, and two other MS-13 members, one armed with a machete and the other a baseball bat, attacked Stacks, beating and hacking him to death.

Stacks sustained severe sharp and blunt force trauma to the face and head, rendering him nearly unrecognizable.

"With today’s sentence, Guevara will now pay for participating in the execution of Dewann Stacks as part of MS-13’s warped mission to attack and kill perceived rivals," Donoghue said.

In addition, between April 2016 and March 2017, Guevara, fellow gang members and associates, sold street-level quantities of marijuana in and around Brentwood.

The profits were turned over to the clique leaders, who purchased more marijuana and firearms and wired money to MS-13 leaders in El Salvador, prosecutors said. Guevara was 17 at the time of the murder and was initially charged as a juvenile. He agreed to be transferred to adult status for trial. He waived indictment last January and pleaded guilty.

"While today’s sentence might not salve the pain this man inflicted on Mr. Stack’s family, and the community terrorized by the violence going on around them, it does send a message to others they will be held accountable for their murderous and criminal actions," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said.