The Justice Department granted a plea deal to a gang leader in MS-13, allowing him to avoid both the death penalty and a life sentence despite his admission to committing seven heinous murders.
Jairo Saenz, 28, known by the nickname “Funny,” will face “up to 60 years in prison, and a minimum sentence of 40 years in prison under the terms of his plea agreement” when he is sentenced, per a Tuesday release from the Justice Department.
Saenz and his brother, Alexi Saenz, led a branch of MS-13 in Suffolk County, New York, known as the Sailors. The pair developed a reputation for brutality.
In one instance, they and other Sailors members attacked two high school students, 15-year-old Nisa Mickens and 16-year-old Kayla Cuevas, with baseball bats and a machete.
Cuevas had apparently been known for disputing with associates of MS-13. Members of the gang spotted Cuevas and Mickens walking down a residential street one evening in September 2016.
“Several MS-13 members then chased down and attacked both Cuevas and Mickens, wielding baseball bats and a machete, striking each of the girls numerous times in their heads and bodies, while the Saenz brothers’ car drove around watching for police,” the Justice Department said.
That was not the only brutal murder committed by the Saenz brothers and their associates.
Only a few weeks later, 15-year-old Javier Castillo was attacked because they thought he was a member of the rival 18th Street gang.
Jairo Saenz and fellow MS-13 members convinced him to drive 30 miles away to smoke marijuana, then took turns “hacking him to death with a machete,” per the Justice Department.
“Afterwards, the MS-13 members dug a hole and buried Castillo’s body, which was not recovered until one year later, in late October 2017,” the release added. “Castillo was determined to have suffered multiple sharp force injuries to his head, neck, torso and extremities.”
Lou Civello, the president of the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association, said in comments to Fox News that Jairo Saenz did not deserve the plea deal.
“It’s disgraceful. It’s an insult to the families,” he said. “When you look at how barbaric these crimes were, murdering young kids with machetes, baseball bats, this is a clear case for the death penalty.”
Civello noted that Saenz may only face six years in prison for each murder if the sentence is toward the bottom of the range.
“We’re always grateful for the federal partnership and the resources they bring to the table, but at the same time, we need justice, that’s the important part,” he continued.
“If it were true justice, this person should never see the light of day again. There should never be the opportunity to be out and back on our streets.”
High-ranking MS-13 gang member pleads guilty to 7 murders in federal court https://t.co/OQdf8T3xZg pic.twitter.com/80TkqEBXC4
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) January 14, 2025
The plea deal was announced days before President Joe Biden is slated to leave office and weeks after he granted a significant number of pardons and commutations.
That included commuting the sentences of nearly every federal death row inmate.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
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