High-Ranking MS-13 Member Receives 25 To Life In Prison: Prosecutors

MINEOLA, NY — An alleged high-ranking member of MS-13 was sentenced on Wednesday to 25 years to life in prison, prosecutors announced.

Carlos Portillo, a/k/a Solitario and Pikachu, 28, was convicted in January for his role in a January 2017 murder of a teenager in the Massapequa Preserve.

"Carlos Portillo, as a high-ranking member of the Indios Locos Salvatrucha clique of MS-13, orchestrated the execution of 19-year-old Julio Cesar Espantzay-Gonzales, providing weapons to murder him and sealing his fate," Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly said. "The young man was brutally killed because he wore the wrong color around gang members."

The trial lasted approximately a week with the jury deliberating for three hours.

According to the indictment, in January 2017, seven gang members allegedly planned the murder of 19-year-old Espantzay-Gonzales, a perceived enemy of MS-13. The victim allegedly wore the wrong color when invited to a known gang location prior to his murder.

Portillo was convicted of second-degree murder.