DOJ Said Arrested Salvadoran Was The MS-13 Leader For The East Coast; Days Later It's Dropping Its Case

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in a nationally televised press conference in late March the arrest of Josue Villatoro Santos, a Virginia man who she claimed was the MS-13 leader for the East Coast. Two weeks later, the Department of Justice is moving to drop its criminal case against him.

Bondi said Villatoro Santos was responsible for "very violent crimes, anything you can associate with MS-13." "He was the leader over it, all of the violent crimes," added Bondi, who also claimed the man had been "recruited in middle school."

"He's been living here illegally with friends and family, and the Biden administration did absolutely nothing to deport these people. You know, as the president says, we didn't need new laws, we needed a new president to fix this," she said.

The DOJ is now seeking to "dismiss without prejudice the criminal complaint presently pending against the defendant." Asked about the reason, a spokesperson for Bondi responded with a clip of the attorney general saying that Villatoro Santos "won't be in this country much longer."

"As a terrorist, he will now face the removal process," Bondi said in a statement after CBS news reported on the DOJ's move. However, experts consulted by the outlet noted that deporting the man without securing a criminal conviction first would break historical precedent.

"Historically and consistently, if someone truly is a leader of a violent gang, we would always prosecute them first and convict them first — and make sure they can't get back into the country," Scott Fredericksen, a former federal prosecutor, told the outlet.

The development follows a report by Drop Site News, which claimed another MS-13 leader was likely deported so he wouldn't reveal shady deals between Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and local gangs.

The outlet cited the case of gang leader Cesar Humberto Lopez-Larios, known as "Greñas," who had been in U.S. custody after being arrested in Mexico in 2023 and was considered a key figure in the U.S. case against MS-13 leadership.

According to U.S. Justice Department record cited by the outlet, "Greñas" was allegedly involved in secret negotiations between MS-13 and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's government, in which gang leaders were offered incentives in exchange for reducing violence and providing political support. Bukele has long denied these negotiations, but his administration has resisted extraditing MS-13 leaders to the U.S., raising speculation about his desire to keep their testimony out of American courts.

Four days before "Greñas" was deported, federal prosecutors dismissed the charges against him, citing "sensitive and important foreign policy considerations." The move was part of a broader deportation operation that included over 250 people, mostly Venezuelans accused of being part of the gang Tren de Aragua and for whose expulsion Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

"Greñas" was identified upon arrival in El Salvador when Bukele's government released a video of arriving deportees.. Trump also expelled 22 other Salvadorans, including another MS-13 member, César Eliseo Sorto-Amaya. U.S. agencies have refused to disclose details of the deportations.