MS-13 Member Sentenced to 35 Years in Prison for RICO Conspiracy Involving Murder of 16-Year-Old East Boston Boy

BOSTON – An MS-13 member was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for his role in the murder of a 16-year-old boy in East Boston.  

Jairo Perez, a/k/a “Seco,” 27, a Salvadoran national, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to 35 years in prison and five years of supervised release. Perez will be subject to deportation upon completion of his sentence. In May 2018, Perez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity, more commonly referred to as RICO or racketeering conspiracy. Perez admitted that his racketeering activity involved the Jan. 10, 2016, murder of a 16-year-old boy in East Boston. 

After a multi-year investigation, Perez was one of dozens of alleged leaders, members, and associates of MS-13 named in a superseding indictment unsealed in January 2016 that targeted MS-13’s criminal activities in Massachusetts.

The investigation revealed that Perez was a member of MS-13’s Trece Loco Salvatrucha clique. On Jan. 10, 2016, Perez and three other MS-13 members—Edwin Gonzalez a/k/a “Sangriento,” Edwin Diaz, a/k/a “Demente,” and Rigoberto Mejia, a/k/a “Ninja”—murdered a 16-year-old boy whom they believed to be a member of a rival gang. Perez, Gonzalez, and Diaz used machetes to strike the victim dozens of times, while Mejia shot the victim. The murder occurred late at night on the sidewalk of a residential street in East Boston. 

A few days after the murder, law enforcement used a cooperating witness to capture Perez on tape admitting to his involvement in the murder. Perez was also recorded burying the knives used to murder the victim in a park on Deer Island in Winthrop. The murder weapons were later recovered by law enforcement.

Perez, Gonzalez, Diaz, and Mejia are four of 49 defendants who have been convicted on federal charges as part of the ongoing prosecution. Sixteen of those defendants—including Perez, Gonzalez, Diaz, and Mejia—have been held responsible for racketeering conspiracy involving murder. Forty of the 49 convictions, including Mejia, were the result of guilty pleas prior to trial.  Nine other defendants, including Gonzalez, were convicted after trial.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Commissioner Thomas Turco of the Massachusetts Department of Corrections; Essex County Sheriff Kevin F. Coppinger; Suffolk County Sheriff Steven W. Thompkins; Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley; Middlesex County District Attorney Marian T. Ryan; Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett; Boston Police Commissioner William Gross; Chelsea Police Chief Brian A. Kyes; Everett Police Chief Steven A. Mazzie; Lynn Police Chief Michael Mageary; Revere Police Chief James Guido; and Somerville Police Chief David Fallon made the announcement today. The U.S. Marshals Service has provided crucial assistance with the case.