Three MS-13 gang members responsible for the cold-blooded execution of a 19-year-old on Long Island were sentenced in Brooklyn federal court today. Milton Contreras, Oscar Welman Espinoza-Merino, and Jose Osmin Rubio—all convicted of murdering Sidney Valverde in 2014—were handed lengthy prison terms by United States District Judge Margo K. Brodie. Contreras received 27 years, while Espinoza-Merino and Rubio were each sentenced to more than 24 years. Upon release, all three will be deported from the United States.
The killing, carried out over suspicions that Valverde was cooperating with law enforcement, was a textbook MS-13 hit: calculated, brutal, and designed to spread fear. On February 25, 2014, co-conspirators—including Byron Lopez, already convicted and awaiting sentencing—lured Valverde to Long Island under the false pretense of gang business. Once there, they shot him in the back of the head and dumped his body on Miller Place Beach in Suffolk County. The remains were discovered nearly two weeks later by a beachcomber combing the shore.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, made no apologies for the severity of the sentences. “Today’s sentence marks the final chapter in the pursuit of justice against these three MS-13 gang members who brutally murdered a teenager execution-style when they suspected him of cooperating with law enforcement,” Donoghue stated. “This prosecution is part of the ongoing mission of this Office to protect the residents of this district from the violence and lawlessness of MS-13, and we will not rest until the MS-13 criminal organization is entirely dismantled.”
Angel M. Melendez, Special Agent-in-Charge of HSI New York, underscored the gang’s predatory nature. “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,” Melendez said. “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.”
ATF Special Agent-in-Charge Ashan M. Benedict added that the sentence sends a clear message to violent street gangs. “The individuals that committed this heinous act of violence are rightfully where they belong. While in prison, they can reflect on the terror and pain they inflicted on their community,” Benedict said. He praised the joint efforts of the ATF’s Joint Firearms Task Force, HSI, NYPD, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for seeing the case through to justice.
The defendants are tied to the Jamaica, Queens and Brentwood, Long Island chapters of MS-13, a transnational criminal enterprise known for extreme violence and intimidation. This case is the latest in a string of federal prosecutions targeting the gang’s operations in the Eastern District of New York. Authorities continue to dismantle MS-13’s leadership structure and eliminate its grip on communities terrorized by its reign of fear.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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