Long Island MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced For Two Murders

A MS-13 gang member from Freeport was sentenced to 40 years in jail on Thursday after previously pleading guilty to racketeering charges in connection with two murders on Long Island and for plotting a third in Maryland.

Melvin Marquez-Sanchez, 22, murdered Douglas Martinez in Brentwood on Aug. 25, 2012 and Jose Vallejo in Hempstead on Sept. 8, 2012. He also conspired to kill a rival gang member in Maryland in early 2013, where he fled after the previous two murders.

"This defendant killed two young men here on Long Island, before fleeing to Maryland, where he sought to continue the murderous agenda of the MS-13," said Acting United States Attorney Bridget Rohde. "Due to our continuing work with the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, the defendant’s role in these violent crimes has come to an end. Today’s sentence will ensure that the public is protected from this defendant for decades to come."

The sentencing is the latest blow to the gang, which has been large target for law enforcement in recent months. A federal crackdown arrested 39 MS-13 gang members in 30 days in the New York area, and Nassau County recently announced the arrest of 41 more.

According to prosecutors, on Aug. 25, 2012, Marquez-Sanchez shot Martinez multiple times at point-blank range with a .38 caliber revolver, killing him. Marquez-Sanchez and several other MS-13 members, including an MS-13 leader in El Salvador, decided to kill Martinez for violating the rules of the gang, namely, not "putting in work" (committing acts of violence against rival gang members), not sending enough money to gang leaders in El Salvador and possibly cooperating with law enforcement authorities. In total, seven MS-13 members have been convicted of racketeering charges in connection with Martinez’s murder.

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Two weeks later, Marquez-Sanchez and several other MS-13 members carried out the murder of Vallejo, a suspected rival gang member who was selling drugs in Kennedy Park in Hempstead, which the MS-13 considered to be its turf. After the MS-13 members lured Vallejo to the park, under the guise of purchasing marijuana, Marquez-Sanchez shot Vallejo multiple times with the same .38 caliber revolver and another MS-13 member attacked Vallejo with a machete, slashing his throat and face. Marquez-Sanchez and four other MS-13 members have been convicted of racketeering charges in connection with Vallejo’s murder.

After committing the murders on Long Island, Marquez-Sanchez fled to Maryland, where he continued his membership in the MS-13. Beginning in January 2013, Marquez-Sanchez and other members of the Sailors clique conspired to kill an individual who they believed to be a member of the rival 18th Street gang. On several occasions in early 2013, Marquez-Sanchez and other MS-13 members traveled to a specific neighborhood in Maryland for the purpose of killing the victim, but were unable to locate him. However, after Marquez-Sanchez had been arrested on other charges, on March 12, 2013, that victim was located and murdered by Marquez-Sanchez’s co-conspirators.

"The brutal nature of MS-13’s crimes and the intimidation tactics they use in furtherance of their illegal activity pose a very serious threat to the communities in which they live," said FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney. "Even more disturbing is the impact their presence has on the children in these neighborhoods, who face this disturbing reality in school and other places where they should be made to feel safe. Gang violence, whether directed toward rival gang members or not, negatively affects society as a whole."

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