MS-13 Member Sentenced To Prison For Role In Quadruple Murder

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY - An MS-13 gang member was sentenced to 55 years in prison on Wednesday for his role in a quadruple murder at a Central Islip park in 2017, according to the U.S. attorney.

Josue Portillo, a member of the Leeward Locos Salvatruchas clique of MS-13, was sentenced at the federal courthouse in Central Islip by U.S. Circuit Judge Joseph F. Bianco to prison after pleading guilty to racketeering charges for his participation in murders of Justin Llivicura, Michael Lopez, Jorge Tigre and Jefferson Villalobos.

After his sentence, 18-year-old Portillo, an illegal alien from El Salvador, faces deportation from the United States. He currently resides in Central Islip.

"Portillo and his co-defendants slaughtered four young men on behalf of the MS-13," U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said. "Nothing can bring back the young lives lost, and no sentence imposed by a court can truly bring justice in this situation, but the Eastern District and our partners in the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force will continue to work relentlessly to eliminate the scourge of MS-13 violence."

On April 11, 2017, two female associates of the MS-13 were told by Portillo and other MS-13 member to lure five young men, including the four killed, to a community park in Central Islip.

The men were believed to be members of a rival gang who had offended the MS-13.

Portillo, along with several other MS-13 members and associates, met in the park where they distributed weapons and discussed the plan to kill the five men.

When the female MS-13 associates led the men to a wooded area, Portillo and the others killed Llivicura, Lopez, Tigre and Villalobos using machetes, knives, wooden clubs and an ax.

The fifth man managed to escape. The bodies of the four men killed were discovered the following evening.

"These are teenagers who think human life is some sort of game, viciously murdering other teenagers because they were disrespected," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney said.

Portillo was under 16 years old at the time of the murders and was initially charged as a juvenile.

However, the government filed a motion to transfer him to adult status for prosecution and following an evidentiary hearing, the court granted the government’s transfer motion.

The court then ordered that Portillo be prosecuted as an adult. Afterwards in August 2018, he waived indictment and pleaded guilty.

"The murders of four people during a single incident shows how vicious MS-13 members are," SCPD Commissioner Geraldine Hart.