MS-13 Member Sentenced to 40 Years for Murder in East Boston
BOSTON, Massachusetts – Joel Martinez, a.k.a. ‘Animal,’ 23, a Salvadoran national formerly residing in East Boston, was sentenced to 40 years in prison and two years of supervised release for his role in a RICO conspiracy that led to the murder of a 15-year-old boy in East Boston.
Martinez pleaded guilty in December 2017 to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, also known as RICO conspiracy. He admitted to murdering the 15-year-old boy on Trenton Street in East Boston on September 20, 2015.
During recorded conversations between Martinez and a cooperating witness, Martinez acknowledged being a member of MS-13 and admitted to stabbing the victim to death. He stated, ‘I stabbed the culero three times,’ and ‘He stared at me and he asked me if I was going to, if I was going to stab him. I told him, ‘Yes, the Mara rules you.’
After the murder, Martinez was ‘jumped in’ and made a ‘homeboy,’ or full member of MS-13’s Eastside Loco Salvatrucha (ESLS) clique during a ceremony that was surreptitiously recorded by agents. When a prospective member is ‘jumped in,’ members of the MS-13 clique beat the new member with their hands and feet while one of the leaders of the clique counts aloud slowly to thirteen.
United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling, Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, and Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police, made the announcement.
Martinez will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence.
Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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