A federal judge in Virginia agreed Wednesday to let the Justice Department drop its criminal case against the suspected East Coast leader of MS-13, giving the Trump administration the green light to deport the alleged gang member to El Salvador’s terrorist mega prison.
District Judge Claude Hilton sided with prosecutors’ decision to dismiss the lone gun charge they brought against Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos, 24, after he was arrested in March in a dramatic predawn raid. Prosecutors have not shared any evidence alleging his role as a shot caller in the Salvadoran gang.
Court documents said Mr. Villatoro Santos, who is in the country illegally, was ordered back into federal custody following the hearing. His defense attorneys argued that an “unlawful deportation” is on the horizon.
The Justice Department has cited an 18th-century wartime law to forgo due process and remove hundreds of alleged members of MS-13 and Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua — both of which the White House has labeled as foreign terrorist groups.
Nearly all of those suspected gang members are being sent to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT.
Mr. Villatoro Santos’ lawyers sought to appeal the prosecution’s criminal case dismissal so the defense could prepare to fight the suspect’s likely deportation.
Defense attorney Muhammad Elsayed previously said that his client faces the possibility of being locked up in the 40,000-inmate mega prison permanently based on scant evidence.
“In that event, it is almost certain that Salvadoran authorities would immediately detain him upon arriving in El Salvador and detain him indefinitely at CECOT without any trial or due process based on the United States Government’s public pronouncements that he is a ‘top leader’ of MS-13,” Mr. Elsayed wrote in an April 10 motion. “The risk of this turning effectively into a life sentence without any due process is very real.”
The only link to the gang was offered in the criminal complaint when FBI agents said they found “indicia of MS-13 association” in the defendant’s bedroom during the March 27 raid.
Mr. Villatoro Santos’ arrest was celebrated by President Trump, and Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel were on the scene in Woodbridge, Virginia, to praise the capture of the suspected ringleader.
“America is safer today because one of the top domestic terrorists in MS-13 is off the streets,” Ms. Bondi said.
According to the criminal complaint, an FBI SWAT team busted into Mr. Villatoro Santos’ home and tossed stun grenades before taking him into custody.
The filing said agents seized a Brazilian-made handgun in the suspect’s garage bedroom.
Authorities also found three more guns, ammunition, and suppressors in the bedroom, according to court documents.
The complaint said Mr. Villatoro Santos was originally sought on an outstanding immigration warrant.
The Woodbridge home, which belongs to the defendant’s mother, came under federal surveillance following a reported burglary at the house in August. Federal agents said they observed Mr. Villatoro Santos going in and out of the home throughout March.
Virginia court records showed Mr. Villatoro Santos had prior convictions for marijuana possession charges in 2018 and was convicted last fall for driving without a license and without insurance. Both offenses took place in Prince William County.
