NEWS & ALERTS
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09 Jun2025
Defendant fled to El Salvador following 2010 murder, illegally reentered U.S. and planned second murder
BOSTON – A member of the gang La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, recently pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to conspiracy to participating in a racketeering enterprise, more commonly referred to as RICO or racketeering conspiracy. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provided valuable assistance to the investigation.
The U.S. Attorney announced William Pineda Portillo, aka “Humilde,” 31, of Everett, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to conduct racketeering affairs through a pattern of racketeering activity. Senior U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young scheduled sentencing for July 8, 2025. In September 2024, Pineda Portillo was charged by a second superseding indictment along with co-defendant Jose Vasquez, who previously pleaded guilty to one count of violent crime in aid of racketeering.
MS-13 is a transnational criminal organization with tens of thousands of members located in the United States, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and elsewhere. MS-13 branches, or “cliques,” operate throughout the United States, including in Massachusetts. MS-13 members are required to commit acts of violence, specifically against rival gang members; kill informants; and support and defend fellow MS-13 members in attacks. MS-13 members maintain and enhance their status in the gang and the overall reputation of the gang by participating in such violent acts.
Pineda Portillo was a member of the Trece Locos Salvatrucha, or TLS, clique of MS-13, which operated in Somerville, Massachusetts. Pineda Portillo personally participated in racketeering activity and acts of violence on behalf of MS-13.
Specifically, Pineda Portillo and Vasquez conspired with others to murder a 28-year-old man on Dec. 18, 2010, in Chelsea, Massachusetts. That evening, law enforcement responded to a 911 call in the vicinity of the Fifth Street on-ramp to Route 1 in Chelsea. There, law enforcement found the victim with approximately 10 stab wounds to his chest and back, along with injuries to his head. The victim was transported to the hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds. A recent reexamination of evidence collected during the initial investigation identified members of MS-13, including Vasquez, as having committed the murder.
In the week leading up to the incident, Vasquez and other MS-13 members conspired to murder the victim because they believed the victim belonged to a rival gang. Evidence revealed that on the day of the murder, Pineda Portillo picked up Vasquez, other MS-13 members and the victim in Allston. Driving a green SUV registered to his father, Pineda Portillo took the MS-13 members and the victim to Chelsea, where Vasquez and the other gang members led the victim to an area under the Fifth Street on-ramp to Route 1. Once in the secluded area under the highway, an MS-13 member hit the victim in the head with a rock and another MS-13 member stabbed the victim with a machete. During the attack, Vasquez stabbed the victim with a knife. Vasquez’s palm print was identified on the handle of a silver kitchen knife recovered from the murder scene. The victim’s blood also was found on the knife.
Pineda Portillo fled to El Salvador before investigators could interview him about his role in the murder. On or about April 29, 2015, after Pineda Portillo returned to the United States, he arranged to sell a firearm loaded with eight rounds of ammunition to another MS-13 member, who was actually a cooperating witness working with law enforcement in exchange for money.
On or about June 1, 2015, Pineda Portillo conspired to murder an MS-13 member he incorrectly believed had been arrested and was cooperating with law enforcement.
Pineda Portillo originally was indicted in 2017. However, shortly before the indictment was returned, he was deported to El Salvador. Approximately five years later, on May 10, 2022, Pineda Portillo was arrested as he tried to return to the United States, illegally crossing the border into Texas from Mexico. According to court documents, after being arrested at the border, Pineda Portillo admitted that he was a member of MS-13. A fingerprint analysis indicated that there was a warrant for his arrest. Pineda Portillo was then returned to the District of Massachusetts where he remained in custody.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division Kimberly Milka; Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England Michael J. Krol; Colonel of the Massachusetts State Police Geoffrey D. Noble; Somerville Police Department Chief Shumeane Benford; and Chelsea Police Department Chief Keith Houghton of the made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Boston Field Division; United States Customs and Border Protection; USCIS; and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher J. Pohl, Brian A. Fogerty and Meghan C. Cleary of the office’s Criminal Division prosecuted the case.
The charge of racketeering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
This operation is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) Strike Force Initiative, which provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. OCDETF identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
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