A high-ranking member of La Mara Salvatrucha gang, also known as MS-13, pleaded guilty to a collection of violent crimes that, according to Acting United States Attorney Carolyn Pokorny, "turned parts of Long Island into a war zone."
Jairo Saenz, known as "Funny," admitted to participating in seven murders, three attempted murders, arson, drug trafficking, and firearm offenses between January 2016 and January 2017. At the time, the defendant was "second in command" to his brother, Alexi Saenz, who pleaded guilty to the same crimes in 2024.
The Latin Times went through all of the murder cases the U.S. District Attorney shared. The defendant's victims ranged from rival gang members to minor schoolgirls who "disrespected" the local MS-13 cell. Saenz allegedly committed the following crimes to gain status within the violent gang.
Murder of Michael Johnson
On January 28, 2016, the Saenz brothers participated in the violent murder of Michael Johnson, who they suspected to be a rival gang member. Alexi Saenz spotted Johnson at a local deli and labeled him as "food," a term used by MS-13 to label those they intend to kill.
Alexi received authorization to kill Johnson. He then lured him into a wooded area and offered him marijuana. Jairo Saenz and other gang members then ambushed the victim and killed him using a machete and a baseball bat.
Johnson's body was found five days after the deadly attack by a passerby. An autopsy determined Johnson's cause of death to be sharp and blunt force injuries.
Murder of Oscar Acosta
The next mortal victim was identified as 19-year-old Oscar Acosta. Acosta had previously aligned himself with MS-13, but the Saenz brothers suspected he was leaving them for a rival gang. On April 29, 2016, MS-13 members lured the teenager to a wooded area near an elementary school in Brentwood.
Under the supervision of Jairo and Alexi, the gang members brutally beat Acosta and loaded him into the trunk of a car. The group drove to a secluded area, took Acosta out of the vehicle, and took turns hacking him to death with a machete. The victim was then buried in a shallow grave.
Law enforcement discovered Acosta's body five months later while searching for another MS:13 victim.
Murder of Marcus Bohannon
On September 4, 2016, after a meeting at the Saenz brothers' Long Island house, Jairo and Alexi, accompanied by other gang members went out to "hunt" rival gang members. Alexi spotted Marcus Bohannon and ordered two of his gang members to approach him. Bohannon received nine shots to his head, neck, and chest.
The murders of Kayla Cuevas and Nisa Mickens
The murders of high school students Kayla Cuevas, 16, and Nisa Mickens, 15, made national headlines. The girls were students at Brentwood High School and were walking around a residential street when MS-13 members approached them.
Cuevas had been reportedly feuding with gang members at school and over social media. In an act of retaliation, the criminal group chased down the minors, striking them with machetes and baseball bats. Meanwhile, the Saenz brothers were driving around the area watching for police.
The girls succumbed to their injuries and their bodies were discovered in different parts of the neighborhood with significant blunt force trauma and lacerations.
Murder of Javier Castillo
Adding to the list of underage victims, 15-year-old Javier Castillo was killed due to his suspected alliance with a rival gang. The Saenz brothers helped lure the boy to an isolated marsh area, where they later killed him by striking him multiple times with a machete. The group then dug a hole and buried Castillo's body.
The minor was found one year later. An autopsy report revealed multiple sharp force injuries to his head, neck, torso, and extremities.
Murder of Dewann Stacks
On October 13, 2016, the Saenz brothers and other gang members were driving around Central Islip and Brentwood in search of rival gang members to kill. That night, they spotted 34-year-old Dewann Stacks, who they believed to be a rival gang member.
Jairo drove three MS-13 members–armed with two machetes and a baseball bat–to the victim. The three armed gang members beat and hacked Stacks to death on American Boulevard, a residential street in Brentwood. Stacks sustained severe sharp and blunt force trauma to his face and head, leaving his body nearly unrecognizable, per authorities.
Murder of Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla
On the morning of January 30, 2017, Alexi Saenz and other gang members spotted 29-year-old Esteban Alvarado-Bonilla inside El Campesino Deli in Central Islip. Alvarado-Bonilla was wearing a football jersey bearing the number "18," which led the MS-13 to conclude that he was a member of a rival gang, and they plotted to kill him.
Jairo Saenz drove MS-13 members to get a mask and another vehicle, both of which would be used when committing the murder. Alexi Saenz provided the clique's 9-millimeter handgun for use in the murder.
At approximately 10:30 a.m., a masked MS-13 member entered the deli, approached Alvarado-Bonilla from behind, and shot him multiple times, killing him. One of the bullets pierced through Alvarado-Bonilla's head and struck the chest of a female employee of the deli, who was standing directly in front of him. The deli employee survived the gunshot wound.
Narcotics Trafficking
To finance their illegal operations, the Saenz brothers obtained wholesale quantities of cocaine and marijuana, which they distributed to other gang members for street-level sales in Brentwood and surrounding areas. The profits of the sales were turned over to the Saenz brothers, who used the money to purchase firearms and additional narcotics supplied by MS-13 leaders in El Salvador.
MS-13 in Long Island
MS-13, known for its violent tactics, originated in Los Angeles, California, during the 1980s. It was initially formed by Salvadoran immigrants who fled their country during the Salvadoran Civil War. The deportation of gang members contributed to the establishment and expansion of MS-13 in El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.
With numerous branches, or "cliques," the MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island, per Acting U.S. Attorney Pokorny. "Since 2010, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 70 murders in the Eastern District of New York, resulting in the convictions of dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders," Pokorny said in a written statement.
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