MS-13 Gang Member Sentenced to 292 Months in Prison for Retaliation Murder on Long Island

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, Edwin Amaya-Sanchez, also known as “Strong,” a member of the Guanacos Lil Cycos Salvatruchas clique of La Mara Salvatrucha, also known as the MS-13, a transnational criminal organization, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Gary R. Brown to 292 months’ imprisonment.  Amaya-Sanchez pleaded guilty in April 2018 to firearms-related murder charges in connection with his participation in the July 14, 2014 murder of Jose Lainez-Murcia, who was shot and killed while sitting in a car outside his home in Brentwood. 

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Christie M. Curtis, Acting Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), and Robert E. Waring, Acting Commissioner, Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), announced the sentence.

“As Amaya-Sanchez admitted, the murder he committed was premeditated and brutal.  Now he will have a long time to think about his cruel actions as he serves his sentence behind bars,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “This Office and our law enforcement partners will continue working tirelessly to eliminate MS-13 and the threat this transnational criminal enterprise presents to our community.”

“After ten years, justice has been served.  In 2014, Edwin Amaya-Sanchez, a MS-13 gang member, meticulously planned the calculated murder of Jose Lainez-Murcia based upon unverified assumptions of his involvement in the deaths of former MS-13 affiliates.  Today’s sentencing affirms the FBI’s relentless commitment to eradicating the presence of violent gangs in our neighborhoods,” stated FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Curtis.

“Edwin Amaya-Sanchez's calculated actions to seek out the victim at his home are proof that he would stop at nothing to carry out his crimes,” Suffolk County Police Acting Commissioner Robert Waring said. “This sentencing sends a message that the Suffolk County Police Department and its law enforcement partners will continue to work tirelessly to combat violent criminal enterprises and bring justice to the victims and their families.”

As set forth in the government’s sentencing memorandum, prior court filings and statements during the sentencing, Amaya-Sanchez and other MS-13 members orchestrated the murder of Lainez-Murcia because they suspected that Lainez-Murcia was an assassin who had killed MS-13 members in El Salvador.  Amaya-Sanchez knew where Lainez-Murcia lived, what car he drove, and what time he left for work in the morning, because they previously worked together.  In the early morning hours of July 14, 2014, Amaya-Sanchez drove two other MS-13 members, each of whom was armed with a 9mm handgun, to Lainez-Murcia’s neighborhood and dropped them off.  When Lainez-Murcia left the house and entered his car, the MS-13 members approached and fired multiple times with the 9mm handguns, killing him.  The two MS-13 members ran down the block where Amaya-Sanchez picked them up and drove away.

Amaya-Sanchez, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, who previously was deported from the United States and illegally returned, was initially arrested on September 21, 2015, in connection with federal immigration charges.  During today’s hearing, Judge Brown also sentenced the defendant to time served following his guilty plea to the immigration charge in April 2016.  Upon completion of the 292-month sentence, the defendant faces deportation from the United States. 

Today’s sentencing is the latest achievement in a series of federal prosecutions by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York targeting members of the MS-13, a violent, transnational criminal organization.  The MS-13’s leadership is based in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, but the gang has thousands of members across the United States.  With numerous branches, or “cliques,” the MS-13 is the most violent criminal organization on Long Island.  Since 2003, hundreds of MS-13 members, including dozens of clique leaders, have been convicted on federal felony charges in the Eastern District of New York.  A majority of those MS-13 members have been convicted on federal racketeering charges for participating in murders, attempted murders and assaults.  Since 2010, this Office has obtained indictments charging MS-13 members with carrying out more than 70 murders in the Eastern District of New York, resulting in the convictions of dozens of MS-13 leaders and members in connection with those murders.  These prosecutions are the product of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, which is comprised of agents and officers of the FBI, SCPD, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Probation Office, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, the New York State Police, the Hempstead Police Department, the Rockville Centre Police Department and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation.  OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

The government’s case is being handled by the Criminal Section of the Office’s Long Island Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys John J. Durham, Paul G. Scotti, Justina L. Geraci and Megan E. Farrell are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

Edwin Amaya-Sanchez (also known as “Strong”)
Age:  36
Brentwood, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 16-CR-403 (JFB)