An MS-13 gang leader who has admitted to being involved in at least seven murders was given a sweetheart plea deal this week by President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice that spares him the death penalty and allows him to avoid life in prison.
According to the Daily Mail, Jairo Saenz, 28, is expected to be sentenced to 40 to 60 years in federal prison after admitting to seven murders, multiple attempted murders, arson, and other charges.
Saenz reportedly ran the Long Island branch of MS-13 along with his brother, Alexi, who pleaded guilty to similar charges in a plea deal that is expected to put him behind bars for 70 years.
MS-13 is an international criminal organization that was founded in Los Angeles in the 1980s by immigrants from El Salvador. Saenz’s branch of the gang was known as the "Sailors," authorities said.
The brothers’ Suffolk County, New York, group was known for extreme brutality, including the September 2016 murder of two Brentwood High School girls with a machete and a baseball bat.
The gang members attacked Kayla Cuevas, 16, and Nisa Mickens, 15, while they were walking down the street after one of the girls criticized the Sailors on Facebook. Gang members killed them and left their bodies to be found later.
A $15,000 reward for information on the case was offered by Suffolk County police and federal prosecutors and Immigration and Customs Enforcement became involved when President Donald Trump cracked down on MS-13 during his first term.
On Wednesday, Suffolk County PBA President Lou Civello called the plea deal “disgraceful” and “an insult to the families.”
The Mail reported that federal prosecutors had sought the death penalty for the Saenz brothers during Trump’s first term, but the Biden Justice Department brokered plea deals for both.
“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,” he told Fox News.
If Saenz ultimately serves the lower end of his sentencing range, that will be the equivalent of less than six years for each murder, Civello said.
“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 said. “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.”
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office told Fox News that the brothers “were no longer facing the possibility of the death penalty.”
“Our office had been directed by the U.S. attorney general in 2023 not to seek the penalty if they were convicted of the capital counts,” the spokesperson said.
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