MS-13 Member Sentenced To Prison, Deportation For Murder: Feds

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY - An MS-13 gang member was sentenced on Tuesday to 25 years in prison for his role in the murder a Jose Pena and an attempted murder of a suspected rival gang member in 2016, according to the U.S. Attorney.

Elmer Alexander Lopez, 21, of Central Islip was sentenced by United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco following his guilty plea to racketeering charges relating to his participation in the two incidents, the U.S. attorney said.

After his sentence, Lopez, an illegal alien from El Salvador, also faces deportation from the United States, the U.S. attorney said.

Lopez and other MS-13 gang member who have been charged in this district decided to kill Pena, also a member of the MS-13, because he was suspected of violating gang rules by cooperating with law enforcement after his arrest and because he might be homosexual, the U.S. attorney said.

On June 3, 2016, after consulting with MS-13 leadership in El Salvador, Lopez and the other member lured Pena into a car and drove to a secluded wooded area in Brentwood where they attacked him, 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, the U.S. attorney said.

At his guilty plea proceeding, Lopez also admitted to the attempted murder of a member of the Goon Squad, rival gang in Brentwood, the U.S. attorney said.

On July 3, 2016, an unidentified man was playing basketball with others on Lukens Avenue when Lopez and two MS-13 members saw the group and suspected they were members of the Goon Squad, the U.S. attorney said.

One of the MS-13 members shot at the group, striking the man in the shoulder, the U.S. attorney said. The man received medical treatment and survived.

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