NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- An MS-13 gang member plead guilty to two murders, attempted murder and other drug charges in Long Island on Tuesday, officials said.
Jonathan Hernandez, 24, a member of the Sailors Locos Salvatruchas Westside (Sailors) clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13 gang pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in connection with his participation in the January 28, 2016 murder of Michael Johnson, the April 29, 2016 murder of Oscar Acosta, and an attempted murder on August 10, 2016, authorities said.
He also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana charges.
“In service to a violent gang and without regard for human life, the defendant and his MS-13 cohorts murdered two people, attempted to murder a third victim, and distributed dangerous narcotics,” stated United States Attorney Breon Peace.
According to court filings, on January 28, 2016, a Sailors clique leader and other MS-13 members and associates were present at the Jocorena Deli in Brentwood, where they saw 29-year-old Michael Johnson, and claimed to recognize him as a member of the rival Bloods street gang.
Johnson was marked as their “food,” meaning they were going to kill him. After receiving the requisite approval from the New York leader of the Sailors clique to commit this murder, Hernandez and several other MS-13 members were contacted, informed of the plan to kill Johnson, and instructed to bring weapons, including a machete and a baseball bat, to a wooded area near Second Avenue in Brentwood, officials said.
Court documents stated that Johnson was lured to the secluded meeting location where MS-13 members and associates, including Hernandez, struck Johnson with the baseball bat, stabbed him with a knife, and took turns hacking him with a machete.
Johnson’s body was recovered by the Suffolk County Police Department on February 2, 2016.
In early 2016, Hernandez, also known as “Travieso” and “Kraken” and his fellow Sailors clique members decided to kill 19-year-old Oscar Acosta because they suspected that he was associating with the rival 18th Street gang, police said.
The Sailors clique leader assigned roles as to which members would take the lead in planning and carrying out the murder. On April 29, 2016, several MS-13 members encountered Acosta in a wooded area near an elementary school in Brentwood, where he had been lured under the guise of smoking marijuana.
They beat Acosta with tree limbs, knocking him unconscious. They then bound Acosta’s hands and feet, wrapped an article of clothing around his mouth to prevent him from making noise, and summoned other MS-13 members, including Hernandez, authorities said.
The MS-13 members loaded Acosta into the trunk of a car and drove to a more secluded area in Brentwood, near an abandoned psychiatric hospital where Acosta, who was still alive, was taken out of the car and carried into the woods, where they all took turns hacking him to death with a machete.
The MS-13 members then buried Acosta’s body in a shallow grave. Acosta’s body was discovered by law enforcement on September 16, 2016.
On August 10, 2016, Hernandez and other MS-13 members were armed with handguns and attempted to kill suspected rival gang members in Brentwood. They approached a house on Lukens Avenue, where the suspected rival gang members were standing outside, and fired numerous shots in their direction, officials said.
No one was struck, but a stray bullet entered a neighbor’s house and struck the headboard of a bed in which the neighbor was sleeping.
“It is evident by these incomprehensible crimes, that MS-13 members have zero regard for human life and their violence has no limits,” Suffolk County Police Commissioner Harrison said.
Hernandez also admitted that between April 2016 and October 2017, he and other members of the Sailors clique conspired to distribute cocaine and marijuana for the financial benefit of the MS-13.
When sentenced, Hernandez faces a maximum term of life in prison.
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