3 MS-13 gang members sentenced to more than 20 years’ imprisonment for murder of 19-year old man

NEW YORK — Three members of the notorious MS-13 gang were sentenced Feb. 15 following an investigation and subsequent arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York working jointly with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, New York Field Division (ATF), the New York City Police Department (NYPD) and the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD). The men lured the victim from Queens to Long Island and shot him having believed he was cooperating with law enforcement.

Milton Contreras, Oscar Welman Espinoza-Merino and Jose Osmin Rubio were each sentenced in Brooklyn federal court following their convictions for the murder of a 19-year-old victim on Long Island in 2014. Contreras was sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment, while Espinoza-Merino and Osmin Rubio were each sentenced to more than 24 years’ imprisonment. After serving their sentences, all three defendants will face deportation from the United States.

“It is not a secret that MS-13 gang members are violent for the sake of being violent, and in this particular case exhibited their murderous ways by executing a teenager in Long Island,” stated HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Melendez. “As they use violence to seek power through instilling fear into the neighborhoods in which they live, we will be relentless working with our partners to dismantle this vicious gang and bring peace back to the communities.”

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