Federal Government Moves to Drop Case Against Alleged MS-13 Gang Leader

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Henry Josue Villatoro Santos, 24, was arrested last month by FBI agents at his family home in Virginia.

Federal prosecutors are seeking to drop a criminal case against an illegal immigrant accused by the Department of Justice (DOJ) of being a leader of the MS-13 gang following his arrest in March.

In a brief filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on April 9, prosecutors did not explain why they were seeking to dismiss the case against Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, stating only that they were doing so for “good cause shown.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement that the 24-year-old, a citizen of El Salvador who is living in the United States without legal status, “will now face the removal process.”

On the same day that the government announced its intention to dismiss the case, Muhammad Elsayed, a lawyer for Villatoro Santos, asked a judge to delay ruling on the motion for two weeks.

In a filing with the court, the attorney argued that there is a danger, if the criminal case were to be dropped, that Villatoro Santos would be deported and jailed in El Salvador without due process.

“The Government now intends to pursue removal proceedings against Mr. Villatoro Santos pursuant to an ICE detainer,” Elsayed wrote.

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“The danger of Mr. Villatoro Santos being unlawfully deported by ICE without due process and removed to El Salvador, where he would almost certainly be immediately detained at one of the worst prisons in the world without any right to contest his removal, is substantial, both in light of the Government’s recent actions and the very public pronouncements in this particular case.”

According to Elsayed’s filing, Villatoro Santos was arrested on March 27 after members of the FBI’s Special Weapons and Tactics Team executed a federal search warrant at his family home in Virginia.

He was charged with a single federal charge of possession of a firearm by an illegal immigrant.

An affidavit related to Villatoro Santos’s arrest states that, along with firearms, “FBI agents and [task force officers] also observed indicia of MS-13 association in the garage bedroom” while searching his home.

On the same day that Villatoro Santos was arrested, Bondi told a press conference that officials had arrested an “illegal alien from El Salvador.”

“He was the leader for the East Coast,” Bondi said. “One of the top three in the entire country.”

Bondi did not name the individual who had been arrested at the conference, nor did she provide details regarding the charges against the individual.

She told reporters that the arrested individual would not be “living in our country much longer.”

Later, President Donald Trump lauded the arrest of the alleged gang leader, writing on Truth Social, “Just captured a major leader of MS13,” while praising border czar Tom Homan.

The arrest came shortly after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which grants him the power to deport noncitizens during times of war or invasion.

Trump has used the act to deport alleged gang members, though his administration is facing multiple legal challenges over the move.

In his filing with the court, Elsayed stated that “in its rush to prove to the American public that this administration is tough on crime and immigration enforcement,” the government has “wrongfully deported” some individuals but nonetheless maintains that it has “no obligation” to return them to the United States.

“Based on this recent pattern of abuse of process and defiance of court orders by immigration enforcement officials, there is a substantial risk that if this Court enters a dismissal order at this time that Mr. Villatoro Santos may be immediately deported without due process and before he has an opportunity to retain immigration counsel and assert any defenses he may have to removal,” Elsayed wrote.

A federal judge previously ordered Villatoro Santos to remain in jail while awaiting trial.

The Epoch Times has contacted the DOJ for further comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Original News Source Link – Epoch Times

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