MS-13 Gangster In Guatemala Extradition Faces Slay Charges: Feds

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — A former Long Island man who fled to Guatemala has been extradited to New York faced charges in a federal courtroom overlooking the same Central Islip park where he and fellow MS-13 gang members killed four people back in 2017, the U.S. Attorney's office said Friday.

Federal prosecutors said Henry Edenilson Salmeron, a 22-year-old who formerly lived in Brentwood, was apprehended by a transnational anti-gang unit in Guatemala and then was ordered extradited to the United States. Salmeron, who is a member of the criminal organization, La Mara Salvatrucha, more commonly referred to as MS-13, was a “fugitive from justice,” and was extradited on Thursday, prosecutors said.

He faces charges that he took part in the April 2017 murders of Justin Llivicura, Jorge Tigre Michael Lopez, and Jefferson Villalobos, according to prosecutors. A gang of MS-13 members had two female associates lead the men to a wooded area at the park and killed them "using machetes, knives, wooden clubs, and an ax, and a fifth intended victim escaped," according to a news release in 2019. ABC News reported Llivicura was 16 and lived in East Patchogue; Tigre was 18 and from Bellport; Lopez, 20, and from Brentwood; and Villalobos, 18, and from Florida.

The four men were believed to be rival gang members who were disrespectful to MS-13, prosecutors said. Their bodies were discovered the following night, prosecutors said.

Salmeron was originally charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Central Islip in 2017, was arrested in Guatemala City, Guatemala, in February, and has been detained since then, pending his extradition, according to prosecutors.

Acting U.S. Attorney Kasulis described Salmeron as evading answering for the "horrific crimes by fleeing more than 3,000 miles from the Central Islip park where he and his fellow MS-13 gang members callously slaughtered four young men." She said it was the "relentless determination" of law enforcement partners that led to his capture and extradition, and he will now face justice in a courthouse that overlooks that very same park.”

Kasulis credited the investigators and analysts of the FBI’s Guatemala TAG Unit and Safe Streets Gang Unit, the members of the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, and the U.S. Marshals Service for their “outstanding collaboration in locating and apprehending Salmeron.” She also thanked Homeland Security Investigations and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for their work on the case.

“More than four years have passed since the victims were murdered, but we hope that today’s
extradition brings some measure of comfort to the victims’ family and friends,” she added.

The arrest was announced by Kasulis, as well as William Sweeney, Assistant Director-in-Charge; Federal Bureau ofInvestigation, New York Field Office; Vincent DeMarco, United States Marshal for the Eastern District of New York; and Stuart Cameron, Acting Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department.

Sweeney said gang violence as eroding "the very fabric of our communities, in many cases leaving
parents to fear for the lives of their children, and the average citizen to doubt their safety in the comfort of their own neighborhood."

“Today’s extradition of Salmeron will now allow us to hold him accountable for the murders
he’s accused of committing, and hopefully restore some faith in the community that we, too, share the same concerns and won’t stop pursuing these criminals until they all face justice for
their crimes," he added.

DeMarco said criminals often think they can flee the U.S. to avoid prosecution, but the marshals “are determined to work with our federal and international law enforcement partners and give victims of violent crime the justice they deserve."

Cameron said the extradition of "violent criminals" like Salmeron "sends a clear
and powerful message to members of MS-13 that gang activity will not be tolerated in Suffolk.

“I commend our law enforcement partners, both here and in Guatemala, for their dedication to apprehending Salmeron and bringing him back to Suffolk County to answer for these crimes and bring justice to the victims’ families,” he said.

If convicted, Salmeron faces up to life in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney's office.

Salmeron is the ninth MS-13 member or associate to be charged publicly with the killings. Six defendants are pending trial, Josue Portillo and Freiry Martinez previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 55 and 50 years in prison, respectively, prosecutors said.