CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. - An MS-13 street gang member was sentenced to 55 years in prison on Wednesday after pleading guilty to racketeering charges for his role in the brutal massacre of four young men on Long Island. Josue Portillo was 15 years old at the time of the April 2017 slayings. He admitted to planning the killings with other MS-13 defendants because he said they believed the four were rival gang members. The violence, including the 2016 slayings of two teenage girls in Brentwood, led to congressional hearings and visits to Long Island from both President Donald Trump and then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The gang has been blamed for dozens of killings since January 2016 across a wide swath of Long Island.

Source: thestar June 12, 2019 20:29 UTC