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MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced for Re-Entry
A 23-year-old Honduran national, Hector Daniel Villanueva-Cortes, also known as ‘Muertito,’ has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for illegally re-entering the United States after being deported.
U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus handed down the sentence in a federal court in Greenbelt, Maryland, after finding that Villanueva-Cortes was a member of the Mara Salvatruchas gang, commonly known as MS-13.
According to court documents, Villanueva-Cortes initially entered the United States illegally in June 2004 and was deported back to Honduras in April 2010. He illegally re-entered the United States sometime before May 2013, when he was found by HSI special agents and Prince George’s County Police Officers at a residence in Hyattsville in the company of a known MS-13 gang member.
A search of the residence revealed evidence of gang activity, and additional investigation revealed that Villanueva-Cortes is a high-ranking member of the Sailors Lokotes Westside Salvatruchas (SLWS), a clique of the MS-13 gang located in Southern Maryland.
Prince George’s County Police officers had encountered Villanueva-Cortes on several occasions with other known MS-13 members prior to May 20, 2013.
U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised HSI Baltimore and the Prince George’s County Police Department for their work in the investigation, thanking Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly O. Hayes and William D. Moomau for their prosecution of the case.
Villanueva-Cortes will serve one year of supervised release following his 18-month prison sentence.
RELATED: D.C. Gang Members Sentenced to Over 100 Years Each in 2021 Murders
RELATED: MS-13 Members Convicted in Baltimore Murders
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release ↗
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