Member of ‘worst gang in world’ receives 1,300-year sentence | World | News
A member of the “world’s worst gang” has been sentenced to more than 1,300 years in prison for his involvement in a string of crimes including murder, smuggling, extortion and kidnapping, prosecutors have confirmed.
According to the statement made by El Salvador prosecutors, MS-13 gang member Marvin Abel Hernandez Palacios was sentenced to a total of 1,335 years in prison on Thursday for “aggravated murder, aggravated femicide, disappearance of persons, extortion, smuggling and illegal groups”. mirror reports.
He wasn’t the only person sentenced to extraordinary prison terms, as El Salvadoran prosecutors sentenced a total of 248 MS-13 gang members on December 18. Sentences ranged from 463 to 958 years, according to CBS News.
The wave of investigations by the Central American country’s Attorney General’s Office, which acts as the country’s Department of Public Prosecutions, represents the latest attempt to rein in the notorious street gang.
Prosecutors stated that a total of 169 victims suffered as a result of the crimes they committed.
The Central American prosecutor’s office stated: “The serious crimes committed by these criminals include the disappearance and murder of brothers Karen and Eduardo Guerrero Toledo in December 2021; the disappearance and femicide of football player Claudia Jimena Granados in October 2021; a [university student] Those who disappeared in March 2019; and the disappearance and murder of another student in April 2020.”
According to the statement made by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, the gangs blackmailed the victims, who were business owners, by demanding different amounts of money in exchange for not harming them.
“Some people had to close their businesses because they were afraid of threats,” the statement said.
Overall, 248 MS-13 members were convicted of 43 counts of aggravated murder, 42 counts of enforced disappearance, 3 counts of aggravated femicide, 86 counts of extortion, 29 counts of solicitation and conspiracy to commit murder, 32 counts of preparation for illegal trafficking, 5 counts of illegal use or occupation of real estate, and 5 counts of illegal use or illegal occupation. association.
MS-13, along with its main rival Barrio 18, controlled roughly 80% of El Salvador before the government’s 2022 crackdown on crime. The Central American country has one of the highest murder rates in the world, and both gangs are responsible for nearly 200,000 deaths over the past three decades.
At the beginning of this year, US President Donald Trump Designated MS-13 as a terrorist organization. Trump described MS-13 as “probably the meanest, worst gang in the world” and an “evil group of people.”
“They are sick and unstable,” he added.
