Member of ‘worst gang in world’ who Trump known as ‘sick and deranged’ handed 1,300-year jail sentence
A member of the notorious MS-13 gang member has been handed a huge sentence of more than 1,300 years for murders, extortion and other crimes – and he’s not the only one facing long jail time
![A gang member seen in a cell at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in Tecoluca, in San Vicente, El Salvador [file image]](https://i2-prod.dailystar.co.uk/article36438810.ece/ALTERNATES/s1200f/0_Gang-members-at-the-Terrorism-Confinement-Center-Cecot-in-El-Salvador.jpg)
A member of a gang dubbed “the worst in the world” has been slapped with a prison sentence of more than 1,300 years for his involvement in a catalogue of crimes including murder, trafficking, extortion and abduction, according to prosecutors.
Marvin Abel Hernandez Palacios, a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, was handed a staggering total sentence of 1,335 years on Thursday for “aggravated homicide, aggravated femicide, disappearance of persons, extortion, illicit trafficking and illicit groups”, stated El Salvador prosecutors.
He wasn’t the only one to receive a jaw-dropping prison term, as El Salvadorian prosecutors put a whopping 248 MS-13 gang members behind bars on December 18. Sentences varied from 463 to 958 years, CBS News reports.
This wave of prosecutions by the Central American country’s Attorney General’s Office, serving as the nation’s Department of Public Prosecutions, is the latest attempt to curb the infamous street gang. A total of 169 victims suffered due to their crimes, said prosecutors.
The Central American prosecutor’s office revealed: “Among the serious crimes committed by these criminals are the disappearance and murder of siblings Karen and Eduardo Guerrero Toledo in December 2021; the disappearance and femicide of soccer player Claudia Jimena Granados in October 2021; the murder of a [university student] who disappeared in March 2019; and the disappearance and murder of another student… in April 2020.”
The gangs blackmailed “victims who owned businesses, demanding different amounts of money in exchange for not harming them,” the Attorney General’s office stated.
“Some people had to close their businesses out of fear of the threats,” it added.
In total, the 248 MS-13 members were found guilty of 43 cases of aggravated homicide, 42 cases of enforced disappearance, three cases of aggravated femicide, 86 cases of extortion, 29 cases of solicitation and conspiracy to commit homicide, 32 cases of prosecution for preparatory acts in illicit trafficking, five cases of illegal use or occupation of real estate, and illicit association.
MS-13, alongside its primary rival Barrio 18, controlled an estimated 80% of El Salvador before a government crackdown on organised crime in 2022. The Central American country has one of the world’s highest murder rates, with both gangs accountable for the deaths of roughly 200,000 individuals over the past three decades.
Earlier this year, US president Donald Trump classified MS-13 as a terrorist organisation. Trump branded MS-13 “probably the meanest, worst gang in the world ” and “an evil group of people”, adding: “They’re sick and deranged.”
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