DIEGO ARGUETA-TORRES-14 mo-and Mother Vanessa-19 yo (2010) - Central Islip NY

by TomTerrific0420 Sat Feb 06, 2010 1:25 pm

CENTRAL ISLIP – Police homicide detectives are investigating the
shooting deaths of an unidentified woman and a young child. The two
bodies were found by a man, walking along a path behind a furniture
warehouse at 111 Windsor Place, about 6:30 Friday morning. He
immediately called police.
The woman is a
white-Hispanic, thin build, about 19 to 25 years old, with long dark
hair. She was wearing a white blouse, blue jeans with a silver belt,
large silver heart-shaped earrings and an Apple Bottoms brand hooded
sweatshirt.
The child is a white-Hispanic, about two
years old, wearing a red zip-up shirt, blue jeans, a diaper, a red and
black Timberland jacket with a red hood and white Air Jordan high-top
sneakers with red trim.
Autopsies are scheduled.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 631-852-6392 or Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS.

* * * *

Police on Long Island are searching for the heartless fiend who shot
and killed a toddler in diapers and a young woman who may have been his
mom. The bodies were found along a wooded path in Central
Islip yesterday at 7 a.m. by a man walking to work, said Suffolk
Homicide Squad Commander Detective Lt. Gerard Pelkofsky. Pelkofsky said the victims had no identification on them and asked for
the public's help in identifying the Hispanic woman, in her late teens
or early 20s, and the child, between the ages of 1 and 2. Pelkofsky would only say the two were shot. He declined to reveal how many times.

by TomTerrific0420 Sun Feb 07, 2010 1:20 pm

Police have identified the bodies of a mother and child found shot and
killed in the woods on Long Island Friday.

A passerby found the bodies of 19-year-old Vanessa Argueta and her
14-month-old son Diego while walking to work on Friday morning in
Central Islip. The two were found dead near Windsor Place and south of
Suffolk Avenue behind a Raymour & Flanigan warehouse around 7 a.m.

The Homicide Squad, also involved in the investigation, was scouring the scene Friday for clues.

Argueta and her son, who lived in Hempstead, appear to have been murdered where they were found, police officials told PIX News.

The area where the bodies were found is home to several large trucking
centers and a furniture warehouse with loading docks. Residential
neighborhoods also surround the area.

"It's a common trail just to get back and forth for the people who live
over on Lowell... over there to get to the industrial park, just like I
used it to get to work," said Mike Carney, who lives in the area.

The investigation is ongoing.

by MililaniGirl Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:43 pm

A Year Later, Progress in Case of Mom, Tot Slain in Central Islip

By Timothy Bolger on February 4th, 2011

Diego Torres and Vanessa Argueta

A teenage gang member was recorded in wiretapped phone conversations callously joking about his involvement in the shooting deaths of a 19-year-old Hempstead woman and her 2-year-old son in Suffolk County last year, according to recently released court documents.

Even more disturbing, Adalberto “Gringo” Guzman took the slain boy’s Dora the Explorer ball as a souvenir that he later gifted to a friend’s daughter, investigators allege in the documents. Those and other details are outlined in federal conspiracy, racketeering and murder charges filed against Guzman at U.S. District Court in Central Islip, about three miles from where the 18-year-old reputed MS-13 street gang member joined two co-conspirators in allegedly gunning down Vanessa Argueta and Diego Torres one year ago Friday.

“Shut up Torres,” the gunmen allegedly told the screaming child after he witnessed his mother being fatally shot in the chest and head, according to Guzman’s alleged confession outlined in the documents. The suspects then allegedly shot the boy in the head—twice.

The FBI arrested Guzman at Miami International Airport last May when he arrived on a flight from El Salvador, where he and his alleged co-conspirators fled after the gruesome double murder. He pleaded not guilty at federal court in Florida and was later extradited to New York where a federal judge ruled in December that Guzman, who was 17 years old at the time of the murders, can be tried as an adult.

“The defendant’s alleged participation in the heinous, execution-style murder of a nineteen-year-old woman and her two-year-old son…overwhelmingly favors, in the interest of justice…that the defendant can be prosecuted as an adult,” U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bianco wrote in his ruling.

Most case files were unsealed last month, although some remain shielded from public view.

A second unnamed suspect has reportedly been apprehended and will be tried as an adult although the third suspect is reportedly still at large.

Spokesmen for federal prosecutors and the FBI declined to comment on the case. A Suffolk County police spokesman would only say the case is still under investigation. Guzman’s attorney did not return a call seeking comment.

Investigators said in the documents that Argueta, who allegedly had ties to the Latin Kings and the 18th Street Gang—two MS-13 rival gangs—dated one of Guzman’s alleged co-conspirators, a fellow MS-13 member. When the co-conspirator and Argueta got into a fight, she allegedly told 18th Street gang members where to find him.

In retaliation, the ex-boyfriend asked Argueta out to dinner in a ruse that was a part of an alleged murder plot, authorities say. Guzman, the ex-boyfriend and a third MS-13 member picked up Argueta, but she did not have a babysitter for her son. When the trio failed to convince her to leave the boy at home, all five drove off together.

They eventually arrived at the crime scene in an industrial park near the corner of Connetquot Avenue and Windsor Place where they allegedly lured the young mother into the woods with the promise to smoke marijuana. The next day, a passerby was walking to work when he discovered the bodies behind the Raymour & Flanigan furniture store.

About a month after the shooting, New York City police recovered the gun at the scene of a Far Rockaway murder involving other MS-13 members. The Jennings .22 semi-automatic handgun was also used to kill Nestor Moreno, a Hempstead bouncer, on March 6, 2010, according to the documents.

Four reputed MS-13 members and a juvenile are facing federal charges in that murder following a crackdown on the gang last April.

Just like the shared weapon, this is not Guzman’s first run-in with the law.

After joining MS-13 at the age of 10 while living in California, his family moved to Long Island where he joined the local chapter, or clique, Islip Locotes Salvatruchas, which recently changed its name to Karlington Locos Salvatruchas.

When he was 14, Guzman was convicted of breaking a 7-Eleven clerk’s wrist during a robbery in Central Islip while he was on probation for stealing a car stereo, investigators said. After he served two years in a juvenile correctional center, he was arrested for graffiti and false impersonation.

He has also been in at least two fights while being held without bail at Nassau County jail. Psychologists have said he has “an odd and disturbing preoccupation with blood.”

Guzman faces up to life in prison but is ineligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the murder.

He is due back in court. Feb. 25.

http://www.longislandpress.com/2011/02/04/a-year-later-progress-in-case-of-mom-tot-slain-in-central-islip/

by MililaniGirl Mon Apr 25, 2011 11:56 pm

Twenty-Five Members of the MS-13 Street Gang Indicted on Federal Racketeering Charges
Charges Include Nine Murders in Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens Counties Between May 2008 and March 2010

U.S. Attorney’s OfficeMarch 03, 2011

Eastern District of New York(718) 254-7000

Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office; Lawrence W. Mulvey, Commissioner of the Nassau County Police Department; and Richard Dormer, Commissioner of the Suffolk County Police Department, today announced the unsealing of a 70-count third superseding indictment charging 25 members and associates of La Mara Salvatrucha street gang (“MS-13”), with murder, assault with dangerous weapons, witness tampering and retaliation, extortion, narcotics trafficking, firearms offenses, obstruction of justice, and related crimes.¹ The defendants, who are all in custody, will be arraigned next week before United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco, at the United States Courthouse, 100 Federal Plaza, Central Islip, New York.

This indictment adds five MS-13 members and 31 additional counts, including charges relating to five murders in Nassau and Suffolk Counties:

(1) Adalberto Ariel Guzman, Rene Mendez Mejia, and Heriberto Martinez are charged in connection with the execution-style murders of Vanessa Argueta, a 19- year-old woman, and her 2-year-old son, Diego Torres, in Central Islip, New York, on February 5, 2010. The bodies of Argueta and Torres were found in a secluded wooded area in Central Islip—Argueta had been shot in the head and chest, and Torres had been shot twice in the head.

(2) David Valle and Yonis Acosta-Yanes are charged in connection with the May 5, 2008, murder of Santos Castillo-Martinez in front of 267 Washington Avenue, Hempstead, New York.

(3) Valle and Louis Ruiz are charged in connection with the October 22, 2009, murder of Jairo Vasquez in the vicinity of 67 Meadow Street in Garden City, New York.

(4) Franklin Villatoro and Yobany Calderon are charged in connection with the December 12, 2009, murder of 16-year-old Erick Avalos outside the Kennedy Chicken restaurant at 692 Fulton Street, Hempstead, New York.

The indictment announced today also:

(1) Adds charges relating to attempted murders, assaults with dangerous weapons, and conspiracies to murder or assault rival gang members.

(2) Charges David Valle, Elenilson Ortiz, Louis Ruiz, and Franklin Villatoro with attempting to extort money, drugs, and commissary items from other inmates at the Nassau County Correctional Center while incarcerated.

(3) Charges Francisco Ramos with conspiring to murder three individuals he believed were going to testify against him and his co-defendants in connection with a series of assaults that took place on September 14, 2008, at the Antojitos Salvadoreno Bar in Hempstead, New York.

The prior indictments in this case charged MS-13 members and associates with four other murders: the May 26, 2009, murder of Dexter Acheampong in Central Islip, New York; the February 17, 2010, murder of David Sandler in Brentwood, New York; the March 6, 2010, murder of Nestor Moreno in Hempstead, New York; and the March 17, 2010, murder of Mario Alberto Canton Quijada in Far Rockaway, New York, and a series of violent crimes, including attempted murders, conspiracies to murder rival gang members, and assaults that left a number of victims seriously injured, and in one case dead, in Nassau, Suffolk, and Queens Counties since 2008.

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of at least 20 years and up to life in prison. The defendants charged with the murders each face mandatory life in prison or the death penalty.

This superseding indictment is the latest in a series of indictments by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York prosecuting members of the MS- 13, a violent international street gang comprised primarily of immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala, many of whom are in the United States illegally. With numerous cliques, the MS-13 is the largest street gang on Long Island. Over the past decade, more than 120 MS-13 members, including the leaders of a number of the MS-13 cliques on Long Island, have been arrested and convicted on federal felony charges in this district, including federal racketeering and murder charges. The prosecutions are the result of investigations led by the FBI’s Long Island Gang Task Force, comprising agents and officers of the FBI, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Police Department, Hempstead Village Police Department, New York State Police, and United States Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations.

“The crimes alleged in this indictment demonstrate the ruthless violence the MS-13 street gang has unleashed on the neighborhoods of Long Island,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “We will continue to respond to the MS-13’s brutal violence with unwavering investigation and prosecution. If gang members commit violent crimes on Long Island, they will be brought to justice and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” Ms. Lynch extended her grateful appreciation to each of the law enforcement agencies and prosecutors’ offices for their assistance in this case.

FBI Assistant Director in Charge Fedarcyk stated, “The heinous crimes outlined in this indictment graphically demonstrate that notoriously violent gangs like MS-13 place little value on human life. As alleged, these defendants stopped at nothing to enforce discipline, silence witnesses, or eliminate rivals, and in the process terrorized several Long Island communities and their law-abiding residents. The charges brought today are the culmination of years of work by the Long Island Gang Task Force, and would not have been possible without the commitment of the Nassau and Suffolk County Police Departments.”

Nassau County Police Commissioner Mulvey stated, “I am proud of the dedication and cooperation that has been displayed by federal, state, and local law enforcement. We cannot allow violent gangs to torment and victimize our communities. Through these indictments we will begin the process of holding the defendants accountable for their alleged criminal acts.”

“More than two dozen alleged violent gang members are off the streets of Long Island thanks to the cooperative effort between federal and local law enforcement agencies,” said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Dormer. “Those arrested have been taken out of our communities and will have to answer for the heinous crimes charged in the indictment. I would like to thank the FBI, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy for their commitment to strong law enforcement and their support throughout the investigation and prosecution of these defendants.”

Nassau County Sheriff Michael Sposato stated, “This indictment represents the mutual cooperation and joint efforts on the part of all of the member agencies of this task force. Further, it demonstrates that the criminal activities alleged in the indictment will not be tolerated even when such criminal activities are committed while the defendants are incarcerated in a correctional facility. We are very pleased with the outcome of this investigation and the clear message that it sends to the MS-13 street gang.”

“This crackdown on transnational gangs demonstrates law enforcement’s commitment to stopping the escalating violence linked to gang activity,” said James T. Hayes, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in New York. “Removing alleged gang members from the streets will ensure that they are no longer in a position to wreak havoc in our neighborhoods and threaten the public's safety.”

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice stated, “Street gangs like MS-13 operate through ruthless violence and fear, but today’s indictments prove that we in law enforcement will not be intimidated. We will continue to work together to protect Long Island’s communities and ensure that those who commit violent crimes on our streets will be brought to justice.”

Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota stated, “Our collaboration with the U.S. Attorney’s office and other federal law enforcement agencies investigating the alleged criminal activities of the MS-13 street gang in Suffolk County has proven again to be a successful alliance. This indictment illustrates United States Attorney Lynch’s leadership and commitment to this strategy.”

Hempstead Village Police Chief Joseph Wing stated, “The violence MS-13 commits throughout many communities on Long Island must stop. This indictment will bring justice to the victims and send a clear message that the street gang’s alleged criminal acts will not be tolerated. Hempstead Police, working with county, state, and federal agencies creates the force multiplier that is essential in the war on violent gangs. We stand committed in the effort to maintain peace in our Village.”

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John J. Durham and Raymond A. Tierney.

The Defendants:

YONIS ACOSTA-YANES (a/k/a “Brujita”)
Age: 25

ERICK ALVARADO (a/k/a “Gato Seco”)
Age: 29

ROGER ALVARADO (a/k/a “Michichi”)
Age: 31

JEREMIAS EXEQUIEL AMAYA (a/k/a “Payaso”)
Age: 21

WILBER AYALA-ARDON (a/k/a “Pajaro” and “Piolin”)
Age: 19

YOBANY CALDERON (a/k/a “Tego”)
Age: 20

VIDAL ESPINAL (a/k/a “Demente”)
Age: 23

ADALBERTO ARIEL GUZMAN (a/k/a “Gringo”)
Age: 18

MARIO ALPHONSO HERRERA-UMANZOR (a/k/a “Perdido”)
Age: 23

CESAR LANDAVERDE (a/k/a “Flaco” and “Rebelde”)
Age: 23

CARLOS MARTINEZ (a/k/a “Carlito”)
Age: 20

HERIBERTO MARTINEZ (a/k/a “Boxer”)
Age: 24

RENE MENDEZ MEJIA (a/k/a “Zorro”)
Age: 17

DIEGO NINOS (a/k/a “Veneno” and "Mico”)
Age: 23

JOSE GUSTAVO ORELLANA-TORRES (a/k/a “Diablito” and “Gustavo Jefferson Orellana-Torres”)
Age: 26

ELENILSON ORTIZ (a/k/a “Shorty”)
Age: 40

GIOVANNI PRADO (a/k/a “Joker”)
Age: 26

FRANCISCO RAMOS (a/k/a “Cruiser”)
Age: 21

¹ The charges contained in the superseding indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

http://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2011/25-members-of-the-ms-13-street-gang-indicted-on-federal-racketeering-charges

by mermaid55 Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:02 am

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 15, 2011

PRESS RELEASE

MS-13 SOLDIER PLEADS GUILTY TO MURDERING MOTHER AND CHILD

Nine Other MS-13 Members Plead Guilty to Racketeering Offenses

Earlier today, La Mara Salvatrucha (“MS-13”) member Rene Mendez Mejia, also known as “Zorro,” pleaded guilty to two counts of causing death through use of a firearm in connection with the February 5, 2010, execution-style murders of Vanessa Argueta, a 19-year-old woman, and her two-year-old son, Diego Torres, in Central Islip, New York.1 When sentenced by United States District Judge Joseph F. Bianco on October 21, 2011, Mejia faces a maximum term of life imprisonment. In addition, nine of Mejia’s MS-13 co-defendants have pleaded guilty to racketeering offenses over the last several days.

The plea proceedings were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Janice K. Fedarcyk, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, Thomas C. Krumpter, Acting Commissioner of the Nassau County Police Department, and Richard Dormer, Commissioner of the Suffolk County Police Department.

As detailed in previously-filed court documents and Mejia’s plea allocution, the bodies of Argueta and Torres were found in a secluded wooded area; Argueta had been shot in the head and chest, and Torres had been shot twice in the head. Mejia’s fellow MS-13 gang members have also pleaded to the following charges:

• Walter Flores-Reyes, also known as “Scrappy,” pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Assault with Dangerous Weapons in Aid of Racketeering, in connection with a September 14, 2008, attack at Antojitos Bar in Hempstead, New York.

• Diego Ninos, also known as “Veneno,” and Cesar Landaverde, also known as “Rebelde,” pleaded guilty Conspiracy to Commit Murder in Aid of Racketeering in connection with an October 2008, plot to murder a rival 18th Street gang member in Glen Cove, New York.

• Emilio Saballos, also known as “Caballo,” pleaded guilty to RICO charges, including predicate acts of Witness Tampering and Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine, which took place in Freeport, New York.

• Wilber Ayala-Ardon, also known as “Pajaro,” pleaded guilty to two counts of Attempted Murder in Aid of Racketeering in connection with two shootings of rival gang members in June and July 2009, both of which took place in Hempstead, New York.

• Giovanni Prado, also known as “Joker,” Erick Alvarado, also known as “Gato Seco,” and Elenilson Ortiz, also known as “Shorty,” pleaded guilty to Attempted Murder in Aid of Racketeering, Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Aid of Racketeering, and Witness Tampering, respectively, all stemming from a baseball bat beating outside El Cibao Bar in Freeport, New York in November 2009.

• Francisco Ramos, also known as “Cruiser,” pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Murder in Aid of Racketeering, and two counts of Conspiracy to Commit Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Aid of Racketeering. During his plea, Ramos admitted, in sum and substance, that after being arrested for the September 14, 2008, assaults at Antojitos Bar, he conspired to kill three witnesses to the assaults. He also admitted to plotting to assault another inmate at the Nassau County Correctional Center, who he believed to be cooperating with law enforcement authorities.

“This young mother and her child lost their lives to senseless gang violence. Street gangs, and their associated wanton violence, have no place in our communities,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “We will utilize all available resources to eliminate them and put an end to these senseless and brutal crimes.” Ms. Lynch praised the work of the FBI Long Island Gang Task Force,2 which investigated the case.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John J. Durham and Raymond A. Tierney.

read more>

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nye/pr/2011/2011jun15.html

by twinkletoes Fri Apr 04, 2014 3:13 am

FBI Adds NY Slayings Suspect to 'Most Wanted' List

NEW YORK March 26, 2014 (AP)
By JAKE PEARSON Associated Press

An alleged MS-13 member who allegedly lured his 19-year-old girlfriend and her toddler son into a New York woods where they were fatally shot in the head because she was "disrespecting" the gang landed on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list Wednesday, authorities said.

Juan Elias Garcia, 21, whose last reported sighting was somewhere in Honduras in 2011, is the fourth person sought by federal authorities in the Long Island killings of 19-year-old Vanessa Argueta and her 2-year-old son Diego Torres, said George Venizelos, the FBI assistant director of the New York field office.

Garcia, a native of El Salvador who authorities said was the first MS-13 gang member to make the bureau's most wanted list, allegedly brought Argueta to the woods of Central Islip, N.Y. in February 2010 after promising to take her to dinner, Venizelos said.
Argueta was accompanied by two other reputed MS-13 members who had received permission from the gang's leader to carry out the killing, Venizelos said. One of them shot her in the chest and head because of alleged threats made toward Garcia by rival gang members to whom she had ties, according to Venizelos.

Her son was also shot in the head twice — the second time after grasping at Garcia's leg — with the same .22 caliber handgun, he said.

"Garcia decided that penalty for disrespecting the gang was death," Venizelos said. "While crime and gang-related activity often goes hand in hand, the execution-style murders of Vanessa and her 2-year-old son is a new low even for MS-13."

Last October, the Treasury Department designated MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, as an international criminal organization. It has a strong presence throughout the country, particularly in areas with substantial Salvadoran populations such as Southern California, the District of Columbia and northern Virginia. The gang also is allied with several Mexican drug cartels.

There is a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to Garcia's arrest, authorities said, cautioning the public not to take action themselves but instead to call the FBI or local law enforcement. Garcia also has ties to Nicaragua, Guatemala and Panama, they said.

MS-13 is the largest and most violent street gang on Long Island, with more than a dozen chapters there, said Loretta Lynch, the U.S. Attorney for New York's Eastern District.

Garcia was indicted on seven counts that included murder, murder conspiracy and firearms charges last month, shortly after he turned 21, and lost federal juvenile protection status that had prevented authorities from naming him publicly, Lynch said.

Rene Mendez Mejia, who pleaded guilty to the murders, and Adalberto Ariel Guzman, who was found guilty at trial, are awaiting sentencing, Venizelos said. Gang leader Heriberto Martinez, who allegedly sanctioned the killings, was charged in connection with the murders and other crimes and has been sentenced to three life terms plus 60 years, he said.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/fbi-adds-ny-slayings-suspect-wanted-list-23066064

by twinkletoes Fri Apr 04, 2014 3:26 am

Most Wanted Fugitives News

FBI Nabs Fugitive on Top 10 Most Wanted List
21-year-old Juan Elias Garcia Surrendered at the US Embassy in Managua

FBI: 1 of 'Ten Most Wanted' Returned to New York

MINEOLA, N.Y. March 28, 2014 (AP)
By FRANK ELTMAN Associated Press

Only days after being added to the list of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives," a suspect sought in the execution-style killings of his 19-year-old girlfriend and her toddler son has returned to the United States to face murder charges, authorities said Friday.

Juan Elias Garcia, 21, was taken into custody a day earlier near the U.S. Embassy in Managua, according to Nicaraguan police. He was immediately turned over to the FBI. Nicaraguan authorities provided no further information about the arrest.

The FBI issued a statement Friday saying Garcia had surrendered and "voluntarily returned to the United States to face charges."
His first court appearance was scheduled for Monday in U.S. District Court in Central Islip. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney.

Garcia was indicted on seven counts that included murder, murder conspiracy and firearms charges last month, shortly after he turned 21, and lost federal juvenile protection status that had prevented authorities from naming him publicly.

The courthouse is in the same town where authorities say Garcia and three others participated in the killings of Vanessa Argueta and her 2-year-old son Diego Torres.

George Venizelos, the FBI assistant director of the New York field office, said earlier this week in announcing Garcia was added to the Most Wanted List that Argueta and Garcia had been in a romantic relationship.

Garcia, a native of El Salvador who authorities say was the first MS-13 gang member to make the bureau's most wanted list, allegedly brought Argueta to a wooded area of Central Islip in February 2010 after promising to take her to dinner, Venizelos said. The Treasury Department last year designated MS-13, or Mara Salvatrucha, an international criminal organization.

Argueta was accompanied by two other reputed MS-13 members who had received permission from the gang's leader to carry out the killing, Venizelos said. One of them shot her in the chest and head because of alleged threats made toward Garcia by rival gang members to whom she had ties, according to Venizelos.

Her son was also shot in the head twice — the second time after grasping at Garcia's leg — with the same .22 caliber handgun, he said.

Venizelos said in a statement Friday that placing Garcia on the Most Wanted List, and offering a $100,000 reward, helped crack the case.

"News media outlets, both domestic and abroad, displayed Garcia's photograph to members of the public hoping someone would turn him in," he said. "The pressure generated by this publicity was too much for Garcia to bear, resulting in his surrender and return to the United States."

MS-13 has a strong presence throughout the U.S., particularly in areas with substantial Salvadoran populations such as Southern California, the District of Columbia and northern Virginia. The gang also is allied with several Mexican drug cartels.

MS-13 is the largest and most violent street gang on Long Island, with more than a dozen chapters there, said Loretta Lynch, the U.S. Attorney for New York's Eastern District.

Rene Mendez Mejia, who pleaded guilty to the murders, and Adalberto Ariel Guzman, who was found guilty at trial, are awaiting sentencing, Venizelos said. Gang leader Heriberto Martinez, who allegedly sanctioned the killings, was charged in connection with the murders and other crimes and has been sentenced to three life terms, plus 60 years.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/fbi-ten-wanted-returned-york-23104852

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DIEGO ARGUETA-TORRES-14 mo-and Mother Vanessa-19 yo (2010) - Central Islip NY